Srinagar, Oct. 26: Curfew was clamped in Baramulla today after a protester was killed in firing by security forces, the first such death after last week’s poll announcement.

The victim, Irfan Ahmad, was part of a demonstration against a string of arrests of youths in the north Kashmir town over the past several days. Such arrests, part of the state government’s plan to foil pro-freedom demonstrations, have become common recently.

The police said the curfew was imposed to prevent untoward incidents and to protect the life and property of people.

It wasn’t clear if the police or the CRPF, both of whom tried to disperse the mobs, fired the bullet that hit Irfan, killing him on the spot and injuring two other protesters. The demonstrators were demanding the release of youths picked up in the spate of preventive arrests.

The trouble began when some of the youths pelted the security forces with stones, prompting the personnel to use teargas and wield batons. The officers claimed they opened fire when the skirmishes didn’t stop.

Security forces fear more protests ahead of the November 17-December 24 elections. One is planned tomorrow, when the Hurriyat-led coordination committee has called for forming a human chain from high court to lower court complex in Srinagar to protest the landing of the Indian troops in Kashmir 61 years ago.

The human chain protest is part of a campaign by separatists that has included the Lal Chowk marches, thwarted by the security forces several times in the past.

The Hurriyat Conference, which has lined up tomorrow’s protest along with the Bar Association, has appealed people to participate. “Over the past six decades, India has used force to crush our struggle but nothing can prevent us from achieving our goal of right to self-determination,” Hurriyat leader Abbas Ansari said.