Srinagar: A shopkeeper who was allegedly beaten by  a mob died this morning at SKIMS.
Tariq Ahmad Bhat, 24, resident of Rang-e-Hamam, Nowhatta a shopkeeper at Gojwara Chowk was allegedly beaten by a group of miscreants on December 3 of this month, police said in a statement here.
“When he defied their dictates of forcing him to shut down his shop, a group of miscreants appeared in Gojwara area and resorted to pelting stones on shopkeepers to enforce a shut down. The shopkeeper objected to their dictates and refused to close his shop. The miscreant pelted stones on his shop and severely beat him with a cricket bat,†a police official told.
After that he suffered serious head injuries and was shifted to SKIMS, Soura for treatment, where he succumbed to the injuries today, police added.
An FIR has been filed in the police station Nowhatta, FIR No: 84/2011 under section 307,148,149,336/RPC. “We have arrested four stone pelters involved in the killing of the shopkeeper,†police told.
Meanwhile, a senior police official told that section 302 will be added in the already filed FIR and the culprits will be tried under murder section as well.
Meanwhile the shopkeepers pulled their shutters down and observed band in protest of killing as soon as the news of the shopkeeper’s death spread in the area. The shopkeepers Association at Nowhatta has also demanded an action and said that the culprits should be punished as soon as possible. 
