The inquiry was ordered as protests against the incident continued for the second day running in the region's northern district of Baramulla, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Baramulla's deputy commissioner Naveen Chaudhary has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the shooting incident," a government statement said, adding the inquiry officer had been asked to prepare the report within 10 days.

More than 1,000 villagers blocked the main highway north of the summer capital Srinagar after Mohammed Sultan Malik was killed Friday, December 6, during a peaceful demonstration.

"Protests against the alleged bombing and subsequent firing on protesters continue for the second day running Saturday," a police officer told AFP.

He said villagers had blockaded the highway at Churu, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital.

Muslims had taken to the streets after a civilian house was bombed by the soldiers for harboring Kashmiri independence seekers, said AFP.

The owner told visiting reporters that his house was bombed because he had lodged a protest against Indian army excesses in his village. But the army claimed the house was damaged during what it described as an anti-militancy operation.

Army officials claimed that the soldiers were forced to fire into the crowd when protesters tried to snatch their weapons.

Two others injured in the firing are being treated in a hospital.

Residents said the army version of events was a "cover-up" of the "unwarranted firing" by the army on peaceful demonstrators.

Residents want police to register a case against a battalion of Indian army's counter-insurgency wing the National Rifles.

"Angry Muslims raised anti-government slogans and squatted on the main highway," an AFP photographer who witnessed the protest said.

He said villagers had blockaded the highway at Churu, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Srinagar.

"The traffic remains suspended since morning as people want action against army personnel involved in the firing and the bombing," Abdul Rashid, a resident of neighboring Sangrama highway village, told AFP, adding that the situation was "tense."

Senior police officers, including the district chief, rushed to the highway village to try to calm the villagers.