Demos, Clashes Amid Strike In Kashmir - Kashmir Observer

Srinagar, Sep 28, KONS: Kashmir remained shut down on Tuesday as well on the call of the Hurriyat (G), though the government lifted curfew in some southern towns and gave relaxations in other areas, while two persons were injured in forces firing on protestors in Sopore, and demonstrations and clashes were reported from some places, including Srinagar localities.



Clashes between protestors and forces personnel broke out in the Benina area of Srinagar after the poli9ce and the paramilitary men treied to break up demonstrations with cane-charges and tear gas.



The protestors retaliated with stone-pelting, sparking off street battles that continued for several hours.

Residents in the Mahjoor Nagar area took the streets in protest after paramilitary men barged into several homes and beat up the inmates, locals said.

The protestors alleged that the forces personnel had made it a routine to burst into homes, beat up residents, and ransack household goods.

Another such rampage this morning sparked off angry protests and the residents marched in the streets shouting slogans against the forces.

As the protestors tried to march to the main square, the forces went into action and broke up the demonstration.

Two persons were injured in the Selu locality of Sopore after the forces used tear gas shelling and opened fire to break up a violent protest demonstration.

The protests had emerged at around 10:30 in the morning and erected barricades on the Baramulla- Kupwara highway, besides damaging half-a-dozen vehicles in heavy stone-pelting.

A heavy contingent of the police and the paramilitary forces arriving on the scene tried dislodge the protestors, but the latter retaliated with stones, prompting the forces to use tear gas shelling and open fire.

Two persons were injured in the forces action, with one of them, identified as Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo , a medical representative, having to undergo surgery at hospital for a bullet wound in the arm.

Groups of stone-pelting youth attacked traffic on the streets in the Yunsoo area of Sopore, and damaged several vehicles.

Masked stone-pelters also emerged in the Jamia Masjid area of Bandipur, attacking the forces personnel deployed in the streets, and then making a getaway through fields.

Reports said that a chasing CRPF man was caught by a group of masked youth and beaten up.

His screams brought a posse of police and paramilitary forces to the scene who rescued him from the violent mob.

Curfew was relaxed in the Kupwara town at around nine in the morning, and the five-hour break was later extended.

Several private schools in Kupwara told the KNS on phone that forces personnel had entered their premises today ordering the managements to keep their schools open at all costs.

Similarly, shopkeepers and other traders too were told to keep the shops open.

Curfew was lifted today in south Kashmir areas, but most towns like Islamabad, Achabal, Bijbehara, Kulgam and other areas remained shut down on the hurriyat (G) call.

Government and private schools in many south Kashmir areas remained open today, though the attendance was very low.

TEACHER ARRESTED

The headmaster of a Falah-e-Aam Trust school, Javed Ahmad Dar, was arrested in a midnight raid in the Sagipora area of Sopore, while a number of persons were rounded up in the Pampore area of the Pulwama district.

Three persons were arrested in separate raids from the Koigam village of Handwara.

The locals later staged demonstrations against the police and the paramilitary forces, and demanded the release of those arrested.