SRINAGAR: Within hours of J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to discuss the spiralling violence in the Valley, terrorists armed with assault rifles shot PDP's Pulwama district chief Abdul Ghani Dar dead while he was on a tour of the violence-torn area.Dar, an advocate by profession, was riddled with bullets from close range while he was travelling in his car in Pinglena area of Pulwama, around 30km from Srinagar. He died of wounds at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, where massive student protests led to the closure of all educational institutions which had only reopened on Monday after five days.Dar's was the second targeted political killing in south Kashmir in a week. On April 17, militants had killed a former public prosecutor affiliated with the National Conference, Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan, in Shopian district. The murder comes at a time when PDP was planning a conclave of its core group to discuss the security situation in the wake of Mehbooba's meeting with Modi.Following the escalation in violence on Monday, the Election Commission held a review meeting on whether to go ahead with the Anantnag Lok Sabha byelection on May 25. Sources said PDP was seeking postponement of the bypoll.Kashmiri students have been protesting against alleged police excesses at Pulwama Degree College on April 15 where security forces and students clashed. At least 50 students were injured in the clash.The protests spread to schools and colleges across Srinagar, with students staying away from classes and taking to the streets. Trouble began on Monday after hundreds of students of SP Higher Secondary School boycotted classes and broke the college gate and blocked M A Road.Police officers chased some of them down which resulted in stone-pelting on pedestrians as well as security forces by angry students. Cops then used teargas and water cannon to disperse the agitators. A dozen policemen were injured while a number of private vehicles were damaged.An eyewitness told TOI, "Students raised slogans and displayed Pakistani flags while many of them pelted stones, smashing the windscreens of police vehicles and cars passing Maulana Azad Road."In a statement, police said students were attending classes at SP Higher Secondary School and the women's college at M A Road here. But, just after about an hour of class, miscreants from different places entered the educational premises and created a ruckus. Police detained six students. The prolonged unrest had forced Mehbooba to fly to Delhi, where she met the PM and home minister Rajnath Singh.After the meeting, she said: "The coming 2-3 months are crucial for us. I want to say that you will find the situation in J&K changed. We will first restore normalcy and then talks can be initiated."

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