Chanting slogans "Go India, go back" and "We want freedom," thousands of residents marched to the main Martyr's Graveyard in Srinagar for the burial of the 12-year-old boy.

Police and paramilitary soldiers fired warning shots, pellets and tear gas, fearing the procession could become a larger rally seeking an end of Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region, said a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.

Clashes broke out as hundreds of young men hurled rocks at the troops while another group of mourners changed route to bury the dead.

The boy was critically injured on Friday evening after he was hit by shotgun pellets all over his body and died at a hospital early on Saturday.

Residents said the young student was hit inside his home compound, some 30 feet (nine metres) from clashes between protesters and government forces.

Police say he was part of the clashes.

Meanwhile, a police official was killed after suspected rebels fired at a police post in the region.

SA-12