(Recasts with shots, tear gas fired) SRINAGAR, India, July 6 (Reuters) - Police fired warning shots in the air and used tear gas in Indian Kashmir's main city on Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting against rights abuses by troops, police and witnesses said. Over 700 protesters, shouting "Allah-hu-Akbar (God is great), down with Indian forces", gathered near the grand Jamia mosque in Srinagar after Friday prayers and threw stones at police, who fired in the air and used tear gas shells in response, witnesses said. "Four people received minor injuries and at least a dozen protesters were detained," a police officer said. The trouble came as a strike called by separatist leaders over the issue closed shops and businesses in Kashmir's summer capital. Streets in the city were almost deserted during the shutdown called by the region's hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Police and the army in the revolt-torn Himalayan state in the past have been accused of murdering innocent civilians in staged gun battles and passing the victims off as separatist militants to earn rewards and promotions. Earlier this year, authorities charged over a dozen policemen and soldiers with killing at least two civilians in separate fake gun battles, claiming the civilians were militants. The killings triggered widespread protests across the Muslim-majority region where officials say more than 42,000 people have been killed after a revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000. Indian authorities deny any systematic rights violations in Kashmir and say all reports are investigated and those found guilty are punished. The fresh protests came a day after a civilian was killed and another wounded when a soldier fired at angry villagers who tried to seize him while he was reportedly cuddling with a Muslim girl. The soldier later shot himself dead. Revolt-torn Kashmir has seen an increase in violence with the onset of summer as it allows for easier movement of militants within the Himalayan region as well as through the mountain passes from Pakistan. At least nine separatist militants were killed in gun battles with security forces in the last 24 hours, police said.
