Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep grief and agony over the death of youths during protests at various places in Kashmir Valley on Saturday and appealed for calm.

“I express profound grief over the tragic death of the youths and extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members in their hour of immense grief,” she said.

Mehbooba Mufti also said disproportionate use of force for crowd control results in loss of precious lives and grave injuries which should be avoided at all costs.

She asked police and the paramilitary forces to use Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) while dealing with protesters to avoid loss of precious human lives or injuries.

Urging for calm, she sought people’s cooperation in restoration of normalcy in the Valley.

“Violence only brings miseries to the people and tragedies for the victim families,” she said and appealed people, especially the youth not to fall prey to the machinations of the vested interests, who play politics over the dead bodies of Kashmiris.

She also prayed for early recovery of the injured including civilians and the police personnel and asked the health authorities to provide best possible treatment to them.