SRINAGAR Police fired teargas and beat protesters with sticks on Friday to break up demonstrations triggered by the recent killing of a civilian by paramilitary soldiers in occupied Kashmir, police said.

Seventy-four people were arrested, and at least 10 protesters in Srinagar were injured, police officer B. Srinivas said.

Meanwhile, the Indian army decided to punish three soldiers for unprovoked shooting and killing of two civilians last month in Bomai, a village northwest of Srinagar.

Omar Abdullah, occupied Kashmir's top elected official, told reporters on Friday that “exemplary action will be taken against the guilty soldiers and no act of violation would go unpunished.”—AP