Fresh separatist protests rocked revolt-hit Indian Kashmir yesterday, leaving two people dead and 80 others injured when police fired teargas and bullets, police said.
Thousands of police were deployed across parts of the Muslim-majority state to control crowds of demonstrators hurling stones and shouting, "We want freedom" and "Allah is great."
One protester died when police fired teargas and bullets to disperse thousands of stone-throwing demonstrators in southern Shopian town, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of summer capital Srinagar, police said.
"The protester died from a bullet injury," a police officer said, adding 30 others were injured, five from bullets.
Thousands of residents later carried the body, chanting, "We will spill blood for blood" as they headed to the graveyard.
A second protester died when he was hit by a teargas shell in northern Baramulla town, 55km north of Srinagar, police officer Faisal Qayoom told AFP.
"Police fired teargas to disperse a demonstration," he said.
In the past few months, Kashmir has witnessed the biggest pro-independence demonstrations since the separatist revolt erupted in 1989. The protests have triggered a heavy crackdown by Indian security forces.
A separatist committee spearheading recent demonstrations had called on people in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley to demonstrate on Friday after midday prayers.