In the early hours of Monday two youths were arrested for allegedly throwing stones at a truck in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, killing the driver of the vehicle. Police said that six others have been detained for questioning in connection with the incident in which some stones had hit the truck at Zradipora in Uranhall locality of Bijbehara area in Anantnag.

The driver, Noor Mohammed Dar, 42, was rushed to a nearby district hospital, from where he was referred to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura in the outskirts of Srinagar where he was declared brought dead. The arrested youths were being questioned to ascertain their motive behind the crime, police said, adding that the duo had no past criminal history.

It is alleged that the miscreants mistook his truck for a security force vehicle and hurled stones at it, police said, adding a stone hit the windscreen and injured Dar in the head. A few days ago, a girl was seriously injured in a stone-pelting incident in downtown city of Srinagar.

Contradictory to the general narrative, Kashmir is witnessing multiple incidents of violence since the northern state was locked down earlier this month. On Saturday, a delegation of Opposition leaders led by Rahul Gandhi was asked to return from Srinagar Airport. The delegation went to Srinagar to observe the situation on-ground in Jammu and Kashmir amidst reports of violence and strict curfews. 

It’s been 20 days since the people of Jammu & Kashmir had their freedom & civil liberties curtailed. Leaders of the Opposition & the Press got a taste of the draconian administration & brute force unleashed on the people of J&K when we tried to visit Srinagar yesterday. pic.twitter.com/PLwakJM5W5

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 25, 2019

After returning to national capital from Srinagar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a video and said, “Leaders of the Opposition & the Press got a taste of the draconian administration & brute force unleashed on the people of J&K when we tried to visit Srinagar yesterday.”

Tensions in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have been on the rise since the central government abrogated Article 370 which gave special status to the state.