Police said the 42-year-old man was hit in the head as he travelled through Srinagar, the Kashmiri summer capital, and later died in hospital.

"A murder case has been registered. We will find the killers," Srinagar police chief Javed Reyaz Bedar told reporters.

Later, police fired tear gas and charged hundreds of protesters who tried to march to the high-security office of the United Nations to protest against alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces.

"In all 15 protesters and five policemen were hurt in clashes in Srinagar and other towns," a police spokesman said.

Young anti-India Muslims often throw stones at security forces during protests that frequently disrupt the volatile and violent Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.

"The elements involved in this killing can never be well-wishers of Kashmir's freedom struggle," said moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. "The act is highly condemnable," he added.

Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah blamed the death on hardline separatist Syed Ali Geelani, who had called for a march to the UN office.

"It is only as a result of Geelani's Friday calendar of protests that he has announced that this innocent has died," Abdullah told reporters.

Geelani has urged people to protest against Indian rule on every Friday during May.

Both Geelani and Farooq were placed under house arrest Friday, police said.

Earlier Friday, the Indian military said it had killed three suspected militants as they attempted to enter Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the disputed region.

The fresh violence came a day after the prime ministers of India and Pakistan agreed to work towards resuming their frozen peace dialogue when they met in Bhutan for their first direct talks in nine months.

The heavily militarised 760-kilometre (470 mile) Line of Control divides Kashmir between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who both claim the whole territory and have fought two wars over it.

The insurgency launched against Indian rule in 1989 has claimed more than 47,000 lives by official count.

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