With 8 dead, Srinagar bypoll turnout points to big problems

Only 7.14 per cent voting was witnessed in Srinagar on Sunday

A record low turnout of 7.14 per cent and a high incidence of violence were witnessed on Sunday during the by-election in the parliamentary seat of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. Eight people were killed in the firing by security forces.

Rampaging mobs took to streets in scores of places across the Lok Sabha constituency straddling Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal districts, perpetrating wanton violence and arson, even setting ablaze a polling station and attempting to set on fire two others, amid a boycott called by the separatists.

An overview

According to a report in ‘