2 Jul 2009, 0052 hrs IST

India News: SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, India: After days of protests against the security forces that left four Kashmiris dead, authorities bowed to mounting public anger and pulled out 35 CRPF companies from patrolling duty in Baramulla on Wednesday. About 4000-odd men were retained to guard vital installations in the district that borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The withdrawal of CRPF may have cooled nerves but things went on a boil soon because the Army decided to stage a flag march through the main street in Baramulla town following a spurt in stone-pelting after the second youth wounded in Monday’s CRPF firing died on Wednesday. Angry protesters set ablaze an Army ambulance in Palhalan on Srinagar-Baramulla highway, some 30 km from the state capital. The occupants escaped unhurt.

‘‘Yesterday, CM Omar Abdullah telephoned me to say that he thinks J&K police is ready to take over law and order responsibilities in Baramulla. I agree with him. CRPF in that area has been sent to the barracks,’’ said home minister P Chidambaram. The protests in Baramulla come in the wake of anger that swept through Shopian over rape of two Kashmiri women by security personnel deployed there. The swirl of protests in the Valley has risen since Omar took over as CM and observers say things have been made worse by Hurriyat factions exploiting these incidents as a last ditch attempt to stay relevant. With their influence limited to downtown Srinagar and small pockets elsewhere in the Valley, the oxygen of public anger is something that the separatist leaders need to survive.

‘‘CRPF is unlikely to be deployed even in the future after growing public perception that its personnel use excessive force,’’ said Baramulla deputy commissioner Lateef ul-Zaman Deva.