One killed, over 150 hurt in clashes

Ehsan Fazili & Suhail A Shah

Tribune News Service

Srinagar/Anantnag, August 31

One youth was killed and several others injured in fresh incidents of violence that broke out in various parts of Kashmir as curfew was lifted from all areas of the Valley on the 54th day of unrest today.

Protesters torched a police picket guarding the house of a Rajya Sabha member from the PDP in Kulgam district of south Kashmir while over 100 persons were injured in clashes across four districts of the region.

Curfew was lifted from areas under the Nowhatta and MR Gunj police stations of downtown Srinagar. It had already been lifted from other areas of the Valley.

An official spokesman quoting Baseer Ahmad Khan, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, said a mob of more than 900 persons attacked an Army convoy at Ladoora in Rafiabad. Amid stone-throwing, some shots were fired on the Army convoy on way to Kupwara.

“The Army fired some rounds in the air to disperse the mob. Four persons were injured in the incident, one of whom -- Danish Manzoor -- succumbed to his injuries,” said the spokesman.

In another incident, a mob ransacked some rooms in a colony meant for migrant Pandit employees at Nutnussu in Kupwara district of north Kashmir in the afternoon.

Some furniture items and mattresses were damaged in the incident. No employee was staying in the colony when the attack took place, reports said.

At least seven protesters received injures when police personnel fired from pellet guns and lobbed teargas shells to quell demonstrators at Kaloosa in Bandipora.

Protests against security forces were held at Fruit Mandi in Sopore for allegedly disallowing apple growers from carrying out their business early in the morning. Fruit growers alleged that the Army did not allow them to carry on their business at that time.

At least 100 persons were injured in clashes across south Kashmir today even as protesters set on fire a police picket guarding the house of PDP’s Rajya Sabha member Nazir Ahmad Laway in Kulgam.

“A mob attacked the residence of the MP in the afternoon and set ablaze the police picket. They threw stones at the residence of the MP,” said Muhammad Irshad, Kulgam SP.

Tempers ran high in Kulgam district after security forces allegedly attacked a peaceful rally in the Katrasoo area of the district, leaving at least 20 injured.

“They fired pellets and teargas shells indiscriminately on the rally without provocation,” claimed a local source. He added that most of the injured received pellet injuries.

In Tengbal village of Kulgam, a rally was disrupted by security forces, leading to clashes in which more than 20 persons were injured.

At least 50 persons were injured in a similar incident at Karshangam village of Aishmuqam in Anantnag district. Security forces responded with teargas shells and pellets. The injured were treated at Seer and Aishmuqam hospitals.

In Pulwama district, 17 persons were injured as clashes erupted and the police used pellet guns to disperse the protesting youths.

Separatists issued a “protest calendar” with shutdown from September 2 to 8. It called for occupying the Srinagar airport road, Lal Chowk and district headquarters on September 3 and 4.

Protesters attempt march to Lal Chowk

Srinagar: With the unrest showing no sign of an immediate end, unrelenting protesters from Srinagar’s volatile downtown area on Wednesday made attempts to march towards Lal Chowk, a politically significant location and the commercial heartland of the city. The police, however, foiled the repeated attempts of protesters during the afternoon today, the 54th day of the ongoing unrest.

Local residents and eyewitnesses said several hundred youth had assembled near Jamia Masjid in the old city and later marched towards Lal Chowk. The protesters, some wearing masks, carried a pro-militant banner, an eyewitness said. Since the 2010 unrest, security forces have stepped up vigil at Lal Chowk and it remains cordoned off with concertina wires and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces during turbulent phases.

The latest march was foiled by the police by firing dozens of tear smoke shells towards the demonstrators. — TNS