People protest in J&K over killing of two girls in Sopore

Srinagar, Feb 3 (PTI) A group of people today staged aprotest here against the killing of two girls in Sopore townof Baramulla district allegedly by militants on Monday night.

The protesters, who had their faces covered and werecarrying placards, demanded to know why the two girls, Arifaand Akhter, were shot dead.

"What was the crime of Arifa and Akhter?" read one ofthe placards.

They asked the separatists why no general strike wasobserved over the killing of the two teenagers in Sopore.

Police has claimed that the two girls were killed bymilitants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) but a spokesman of thebanned outfit denied having any hand in the incident.

The spokesman of LeT told local news agencies lastevening that the "the innocent girls have been killed byIndian agencies to create confusion among the people anddefame the LeT."

Although most of the separatist groups including themilitants maintained silence for a day after the killings,almost all the groups have now come out to condemn thekillings.

While the moderate Hurriyat conference headed byMirwaiz Umar Farooq termed the killings as an inhuman act, thehardline Hurriyat faction called for an impartial probe by aninternational agency into the incident.