M A I N   N E W S

Sex racket protesters teargassed

Srinagar, May 6
The police lobbed teargas shells and used batons to disperse students of Kashmir University and Regional Engineering College, protesting against the alleged police inaction against those involved in the sex racket here, as they tried to take out a procession in defiance of the prohibitory orders in force in the city, official sources said.

The students of the two prestigious institutions situated at Hazratbal on the outskirts of Srinagar staged demonstrations before attempting to march towards Lal Chowk in the heart of the city.

However, when they reached the nearby Nigeen police station, the policemen there tried to persuade them to disperse.

When the students tried to break the police cordon, the policemen used batons and fired a few teargas shells to disperse them.

The sources said there was no report of any injury in the police action.

An angry mob had yesterday attacked two houses of the alleged kingpin of the racket and clashed with the police to protest the “failure” of the authorities to act against those involved in the scandal. The Kashmir Valley also observed a total shutdown over the issue.

However, the situation in rest of the city and elsewhere in the valley was normal today, officials said.

PDP for time-bound probe Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party, a constituent of the ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, today demanded a time-bound investigation by the CBI into the sex scandal in the state.

“We hail the decision of the state government for handing over the case to the CBI for a thorough probe. We demand a time-bound investigation in the matter,” PDP general secretary and newly elected MLA from Rafiabad Assembly constituency Muhammad Dilwar Mir said in a statement here.