JAMMU, India, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Scores of protesters in south Kashmir pelted security forces with stones on Saturday after a policeman was alleged to have hit a watchman who later died. Protests broke out in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu where the Hindu watchman, who worked at the government hospital in Jammu, died late on Friday. Witnesses said the victim had refused to obey the orders of a police official. He was allegedly slapped by the official and later developed serious chest pains before dying. There is increasing anger in Kashmir over alleged atrocities by security forces including the "staged killings" of innocents who are branded as militants. "We have taken the police official concerned into custody and initiated an investigation," police officer S.P. Vaid said. "There have been some incidents of stone-pelting near Bantalab area and we have now invited some village elders for talks to help us defuse the situation." Human rights activists say thousands of people, mostly men, have disappeared in the 17-year insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir. They say many of them have been killed by security forces in mock gun battles and also accuse them of harassing local people and torturing them in custody. Officials deny the allegations and say they are doing their best to curb human rights violations by security forces. Authorities say more than 40,000 people have been killed in the Kashmir insurgency. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.
