SRINAGAR- A young man hurt in protests against the alleged rape and murder of two women in Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir died in hospital Thursday, sparking fresh demonstrations, police said.

The man, a 25-year-old shopkeeper, was seriously injured Monday when a tear gas shell hit him on the head in Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar during violent clashes with police.

"His death has sparked fresh tensions in parts of Srinagar," police officer Masood Ahmed told AFP, adding riot police had been deployed in strength to deal with new protests.

Thousands of Kashmiris chanting, "We want freedom" and "We will spill blood for blood," carried the body of the man shoulder-high through central Srinagar, the urban hub of a two-decade-old insurgency against New Delhi's rule.

Police fired tear gas but failed to disperse the protesters. The death came as Srinagar and other towns in the Kashmir valley, the heartland of separatist support, were paralysed for a fourth day by a strike Thursday protesting against the deaths.

The protests began Saturday with the deaths of the women that preliminary investigations suggested appeared to have been caused by drowning rather than foul play, according to Indian officials.

The strike, called by hardline separatist Syed Ali Geelani, has shut down shops, schools, banks and offices.

Police said they were probing the deaths of the 17-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, whose bodies were found in a shallow stream last Saturday near the southern town of Shopian.

Their families have accused Indian security forces of abducting, raping and killing the women. A judicial investigation into the deaths has been ordered by the government, but it has failed to cool tempers.

Kashmir's separatist political leadership remained Thursday under house arrest imposed last Saturday.

Since Saturday, over 230 people have been injured in clashes. In massive anti-India protests last year, over 50 demonstrators died in battles with police.

The two-decade insurgency has left more than 47,000 people dead, according to official figures. -AFP