Sporadic violence as India marks Republic Day
Source: Reuters
(Updates with sporadic violence) By Palash Kumar NEW DELHI, Jan 26 (Reuters) - India hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at Republic Day celebrations on Friday marked by sporadic violence in which two suspected Islamic militants were killed in Kashmir and a paramilitary was blown up by a landmine. The suspected Islamic militants were shot dead by soldiers in separate incidents, while the paramilitary soldier was killed by suspected Maoist rebels in the eastern state of Orissa in a landmine attack that wounded two others, police said. Security forces were on high alert throughout the day amid tension in the northeast and in Kashmir where hundreds protested against Indian security forces, a day after a man was killed by troops in an alleged fake gun battle, police and witnesses said. Angry protesters and wailing women shouted: "We want freedom ... Punish the killers", as they burnt tyres on the streets of Kashmir's main city Srinagar. The Indian army said the dead man was a member of the region's frontline rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen. His relatives said he was an "innocent" labourer. Shops and businesses in Srinagar were closed after militant groups called for a general strike to protest the Republic Day. A separatist revolt in Kashmir against Indian rule has killed more than 40,000 people since it began in 1989, according to officials. Human rights groups put the toll at around 60,000 dead or missing. Streets were deserted across the remote northeastern state of Assam, too, after a similar protest call by a rebel group active there. The state was the scene of a spate of killings this month that were blamed on the rebels. Adding to jitters, police in New Delhi said they arrested late on Thursday an explosives-laden militant from a group battling Indian rule in Kashmir. Indian and Pakistani troops also exchanged small arms fire across their disputed border. Putin, visiting India to cement ties between the two long-term allies with lucrative nuclear power and arms deals, joined Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and thousands of spectators at a military procession in New Delhi that celebrates the 1950 founding of India's republic. In the past separatists have marked the day by attacking security forces or the celebrations themselves. The New Delhi parade, a showpiece of military might and cultural diversity, finished peacefully -- the only "violence" being a carnivalesque reenactment of Indians killing British officers during an 1857 rebellion against colonial rule. Tight security arrangements were in place in Delhi, which was the scene of three bomb explosions in 2005 in which 66 people were killed -- although these attacks did not occur on Republic Day. The attacks were blamed on Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. EXPLOSIVES, DETONATORS Late on Thursday a suspected member of Assam's powerful rebel group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), was killed when a bomb he was carrying exploded, while two other blasts left one dead and at least seven wounded. More than 80 people have been killed in growing violence in Assam this month. The ULFA insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people since it began in 1979. The northeastern region with seven states, is home to more than two dozen insurgencies. Security was also beefed up along the porous India-Nepal border, which police say has been used for Pakistan and Bangladesh-based militants to enter the country. In the central state of Chhattisgarh, epicentre of a Maoist insurgency in India, about 10,000 paramilitary personnel were deployed in the worst-hit Bastar region. (Additional reporting by Onkar Pandey, Prithwish Ganguly in New Delhi, Sheikh Mushtaq in Srinagar, Biswajyoti Das in Guwahati and Sujeet Kumar in Raipur)
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