Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 17: At least one dozen persons were injured in clashes that erupted in South Kashmir’s Shopian town this afternoon during a strike called by separatist Hurriyat Conference.
Reports said that scores of people today protested in Shopian town and police and CRPF chased the protesters leading to ding dong battles during which one dozen persons were injured.
“Protesting youth were chased by the police and CRPF men resulting in clashes between them and police later barged into the residential houses in Bonabazaar, Khanday Mohallah and Naiku Mohallah and ransacked property, beat inmates and fired teargas shells,” residents alleged.
They alleged that the men in uniform entered the house of Abdul Rashid Mir and Abdul Salaam Naiku in Bonabazaar and ransacked their property and broke window panes of Abdul Salaam Naiku.
Station House Officer (SHO), Shopian, Irshad Ahmad refuted the claim of sacrilegious act by police and said that the police registered an FIR against the stone pelters that was why some vested interested people did it to evade the arrest of these youth.
“We registered an FIR against the two sons of a clerk working in Tehsil office Shopian for their role in stone pelting, it was the same person who spread the rumors to evade the arrest of his two sons,” SHO, Shopian said.
Police fired teargas shells, pepper gas to disperse the protesters at Bonabazaar, Aliyalpora and Gagren towards the main market. “The protesters also attacked the Deputy Commissioner’s office,” eyewitnesses said.
Protesters caught a police man in civil uniform and beat him ruthlessly at Bonabazaar and his belongings were burnt.
Elsewhere, normal life was affected in the Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani demanding immediate disbanding of Village Defence Committees (VDCs).
Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed, while Government offices and banks witnessed thin attendance and the public transport was off the roads.
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