One dead after security forces open fire at protest in Indian Kashmir

Demonstration by hundreds of residents was against mid-winter power cuts.

SRINAGAR: Security forces in Indian-ruled Kashmir opened fire and killed a protestor on Monday during a demonstration by hundreds of residents angry about mid-winter power cuts, police said.

The incident took place in northern Boniyar village, a 90-minute drive from the main city of Srinagar in the Muslim-majority region that is reeling from a severe cold snap.

"Security forces opened fire when unruly protesters hurled stones and tried to storm the main office of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)," a police officer told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.

One demonstrator was killed and one wounded, he said, adding that five security force personnel had been arrested.

An official statement said the government took "a very serious view of the incident and has asked the state police to take immediate steps to bring those responsible for the incident to book."

Protests over electricity, a highly political issue in Kashmir have erupted over the past few days after authorities announced blackouts because of power-generation problems.

Temperatures of minus 14 degrees Celsius have led lakes to freeze and rivers to run lower than usual, causing difficulties for the hydroelectric projects that provide 70 percent of local power.

Electricity generation is controversial in Kashmir, where many locals resent the NHPC because it harnesses local mountain rivers to generate power but sells much of it to the rest of India.

It provides 12% of total power generated from Kashmir rivers free of cost to the local government as a royalty. The remainder is sold in Kashmir and elsewhere at market rates.

The area of Boniyar where Monday's violence took place is close to one of the major NHPC-owned power projects, but local villages have faced frequent power cuts.

The shooting sparked more protests with young men burning tyres to block the main highway used by the army to carry supplies to posts along the de facto border with Pakistan.

Kashmiri separatists issued a statement warning that "they will not take such incidents lightly".

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the section controlled by New Delhi and separatist militants have waged a 20-year battle against the state, costing an estimated 47,000 lives.