File Pic
A police official said that curfew has been imposed in Pulwama and Baramulla districts today, while it remains inforce in Shopian and five police station areas of downtown (interior city) along with Batamaloo in uptown Srinagar. He said the curbs have been imposed to maintain “law and order” in view of the Joint Hurriyat call for a march to the three districts of Baramulla, Pulwama and Srinagar.
The official said restrictions on the assembly of people continued to remain in force in the rest of the Valley. The joint Hurriyat, in the weekly protest programme, have called for a march to the three districts Baramulla (in north Kashmir), Srinagar (in central Kashmir) and Pulwama (in south Kashmir) today.
They have asked the people of north Kashmir districts of Bandipora and Kupwara to march towards Baramulla, people of south Kashmir districts of Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag to march to Pulwama and people of Central Kashmir districts of Ganderbal and Budgam to march towards Srinagar.
A 19-year-old girl died of cardiac arrest in Shopian district.
Khushboo, daughter of Mohammad Hussain, collapsed during the clashes. Witnesses said that the girl was part of the protest when government forces resorted to tear-smoke shelling to disperse people. They added that due to shelling she suffered heart attack and breathed her last however police in a statement clarified that “some people have posted on social networking sites that a girl namely Khushboo D/O Mohd Hussain Bhat R/O Gaddapora Shopian died of heart attack after clashes between Police/Security forces and miscreants in Vehil Shopian”.
The statement added that in this regard, the district administration Shopian has clarified that Gaddapora, the home of the said girl is about 7 Km away from the Vehil, where the “miscreants set on fire a school and also indulged in stone pelting. As per the hospital authorities the girl has died in all likelihood because of cardiac arrest. The death of the girl is no way related to the incident that happened at Vehil.”
Witnesses said that over a dozen people were injured in the day long clashes. The girl was reportedly taken to Shopian district hospital where doctors declared her "brought dead".
Scores of protesters were injured in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday after clashes erupted between the government forces and protesters.
Local sources said that as soon as people started gathering at the freedom rally venue at Vehil, village defying curfew, government forces swung into action and fired tear smoke canisters and pellets to disperse them.
Authorities had clamped strict curfew in the area to thwart a proposed freedom rally in the village about five kilometres away from the south town.
“Soon after the clashes started and forces fired countless tear smoke shells a local government school building in the Chatwattan area caught fire however the cause of fire was not immediately known,” a local said.
He said that scores of injured were shifted to PHCs like Harmain, Sedaw and Kachdora as they were not allowed to reach the district hospital due to strict curfew. However, DH Shopian sources said they received eight injured and referred two of them to Srinagar for advanced treatment.
Locals alleged that government forces including police, army, SOG and CRPF looted many filled apple boxes and damaged hundreds of them during clashes. They further alleged that forces personnel destroyed fruits worth lakhs of rupees in orchards as clashes spread.
Witnesses and reports said that a school caught fire after a teargas shell landed inside it during the ongoing clashes. They said that High School in Chatwatan village was gutted in the fire.
A peaceful pro-freedom rally was organized in Botingoo village of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district last night. Hundreds of youths participated in the rally that began from main chowk Botingoo and ended at Highway road.
The participants were shouting slogans in favour of independence and Burhan Wani.
A major blaze destroyed the buildings of a School in South Kashmir on Monday.
Reports reaching here said that a major fire incident took place in Lal Chowk Anantnag, engulfing Hanafia School Anantnag Monday afternoon.
All the top district officials reached to the spot.
The school building is up in flames and fire brigade has reached on spot trying to take situation under control. The Waqf board runs the school which is one of the oldest in Anantnag and situated in the centre surrounded by congested market.
The cause of the fire was not yet to be known.
Meanwhile, Government forces ransacked dozens of residential houses and smashed parked vehicles in Kremshore village of Budgam district overnight and arrested four youths. Forces also fired pellets on protesters resulting in injuries to several people.
Locals told said that government forces conducted nocturnal raids in Kremshore village and ransacked houses. They alleged that forces damaged dozens of houses and parked vehicles.
“People in hundreds came on roads after announcements were made from local mosque however they were dispersed by pellet shelling injuring many,” a local said over phone.
He said that forces also arrested four people of the village. “They beat whosoever came in their way,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to a statement by the Zonal Police Headquarters Kashmir, “barring stray stone pelting incidents in Sopore and Shopian, overall situation remained under control today across the valley.”
“Increased vehicular traffic and movement of people was observed on roads between various districts and towns of the valley including Srinagar city,” the spokesman added.
The spokesman said that restriction under section 144 CrPC remained in force in the valley. However, curfew was imposed under the areas of some police stations in Srinagar city and Vehil area of Shopian District only.
The spokesman said that “continuing with its sustained drive against the trouble mongers involved in disturbing the situation in the valley by placing obstructions on roads/lanes, damaging civilian vehicles and shops, police arrested 45 miscreants during past 24 hours”.
The spokesman said that “a group of miscreants with the intentions of creating disturbance assembled at village Vehil in District Shopian and set on fire a Middle school building. Police and security force deployment reached the spot to deal with the situation where miscreants resorted to stone pelting. In order to disperse the miscreants little force was used which caused injures to two miscreants/stone pelters. In this incident some police/security personnel also got injured.”