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People carry body of slain Riyaz Ahmad Shah for final rites in Old Srinagar on Wednesday. (KL Images: Bilal Bahadur)
People carry body of slain Riyaz Ahmad Shah for final rites in Old Srinagar on Wednesday. (KL Images: Bilal Bahadur)

Anger spilled over the streets of downtown Srinagar as a 20-year-old died from pellet injuries.

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Post-mortem report says 360 pellets were found in the body of Reyaz Ahmad Shah – most of them were in his abdomen.

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The police have filed a murder case – the first since the protests started on July 9, 2016 following the death of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

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The police say the area was quiet when they found Riyaz’s body approximately an hour after he was shot. There were no clashes, no crowds in the area. The police are now looking through CCTV footage to identify those who fired the gun and why.

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“Post mortem conducted today revealed the boy has suffered pellet injuries. From the nature of injuries you can make out that pellets have fired from close range. Apparently, there was no incident of stone pelting reported from that area at that time, so it does seem that it’s a security forces action which led to this death,” Javid Gilani, Inspector General of Police told the NDTV.

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Riyaz – a resident of Chattabal in downtown Srinagar, who worked at a grocery store during the day and supplemented his family’s income by working as a guard at a local ATM at night – was on way to work when the forces stopped his two-wheeler near a bunker.

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“He was reportedly beaten before they put a pellet gun at his stomach and fired,” said his brother Zahoor Ahmed.

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Riyaz died on the spot. It appeared that he had been shot from a point-blank range, the post-mortem report said.

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Riyaz Ahmad Shah Is 54th civilian to be killed by forces in the on-going mass civil uprising.

Protesters throw stones  at police after clashes erupted in old city following   killing of a civilian by forces near martyrs graveyard, during his funeral in Srinagar, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016.  PHOTO BY BILAL BAHADUR

Huge crowds came to offer funeral prayers at the Eidgah grounds, where Riyaz was buried, the gathering remained peaceful.

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After mourners returned home from Eidgah, forces used tear gas shells and pellet guns on them.

(PS: This is an edited version of what appeared in NDTV.com)

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