eneral strike and widespread violent protests continued for the fourth day in the Kashmir valley on Thursday after bodies of two Muslim women who were said to be raped and brutally killed by Indian soldiers were recently discovered in the region. The pro-freedom leaders vowed to intensify agitation for the withdrawal of Indian troops from Kashmir.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and armed police across capital Srinagar and other major towns left 100 injured on Wednesday alone.

Shopian town, in south of Kashmir, where the two women Neelofar Ahangar and Asiya Jan were raped and murdered erupted again after police refused to file First Information Report ( FIR) against the culprits four days after the incident.

Authorities in a vain bid to stem the protests arrested Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani minutes before he was to announce the resistance programme with respect to the Shopian tragedy.

Geelani however extended the current strike till Friday, asking people to keep up the agitation till a total withdrawal of Indian troops from Kashmir.

The ailing separatist leader, who had been under house arrest for long, was however set free late in the night after protests escalated across the city and other places.

Authorities have imposed restrictions on public movement in several areas of the city and some sensitive towns, placing barricades on key routes and deploying thousands of police and paramilitary men.

Businesses remained shut and schools, banks and government offices closed for the fourth consecutive day and transport is still off the roads.

The police opened fire on protestors after tear gas and rubber bullets failed to quell protestors decrying the Shopian outrage.

One youth received gunshot wounds in the thigh and another was injured by rubber bullets both were rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

Aerial gunfire was resorted to in Batmalu area where the police and the paramilitary forces came under attack from violent crowds that were reported to have set on fire a paramilitary bunker and damaged several vehicles.

The Jahangir Chowk in central Srinagar also witnessed firing to quell violence.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who on Monday ordered a judicial probe into the deaths remained hurdled with top officials reviewing the situation.

His probe order has had little impact on the ground as rights groups here believe such probes rarely yield results and are often meant only to calm public anger.

Sensing the public mood, the main pro-India opposition in the state Assembly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) too has joined the protests demanding settlement of Kashmir dispute and withdrawal of troops.

PDP President Mahbooba Mufti along with her party’s 14 MLAs marched to Shopian district Wednesday to express solidarity with the bereaved families.

Mufti however was greeted by massive pro-freedom groups who shout slogans upon her arrival in the town which had earlier voted for her party in the 2008 elections.

Mufti who managed to visit the victims’ families, had to face embarrassment at the hands of around 5,000 protestors including large number of women who shouted pro-independence and anti-India slogans.

The PDP president was taken hostage and was later allowed to move ahead after she agreed to follow the pro-freedom procession.