Kashmir stone-pelters to be freed: CCS

A group of interlocutors will be appointed to hold a dialogue on the Kashmir issue and youths arrested in the recent stone-pelting incidents will be freed soon, Home Minister P Chidmabaram announced after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security in New Delhi on Saturday.

A group of interlocutors will be appointed to hold a dialogue on the Kashmir issue and youths arrested in the recent stone-pelting incidents will be freed soon, Home Minister P Chidmabaram announced after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in New Delhi on Saturday.

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The CCS decisions were made on the assessment of the 39-member all-party delegation which visited Jammu and Kashmir recently, he said.

However, there was no announcement on the demand for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from at least a few districts of the state.

Suggestions on the AFSPA have to be taken first by the Unified Command in the state, Chidambaram said.

Some of the other decisions of the CCS are :

- A review of the deployment of security forces in the state.

- Review of bunkers and other security posts in the state.

- Rs.5 lakh compensation to the families of each of those killed in the recent violence.

- Rs.100 crore fund for renovation of schools, colleges and other institutions .

- Appointment of a task force to study the infrastructure projects in the state.

The all-party delegation visited the state following a cycle of violence, which has rocked the Kashmir valley since June 11. At least 108 people, mostly youths and teenagers have been killed in firing by security forces on stone-pelting street protesters during the past three and a half months.