Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Jan 21: The police resorted to lathi-charge and tear -gassing on the protesting mob, who blocked the National Highway at Chan Morian near Hiranagar in Kathua district this evening and also indulged in stone pelting on police and vehicles plying on the Highway.
According to reports about a dozen people mostly police persons were injured in the stone pelting. The mob was protesting against the murder of a minor tribal girl whose dead body was recovered in near by forests in the area on January 17 after she was kidnapped on January 12.
The protesters who took out a procession in the evening later blocked the National Highway and resorted to violence by pelting stones on police and vehicles plying on the Highway. About four to five vehicles were damaged in stone pelting while about a dozen people majority of them police men were injured in the stone pelting.
The protesters blocked the NH for two hours resulting into a huge traffic jam also. The DC Kathua Rohit Khajuria visited the spot along with police officers including SDPO, Border Raghubir Singh to pacify the mob but they did not budge and demanded that the murderer of the girl be hanged. They informed them that the culprit who is a juvenile has been arrested and SIT constituted besides the concerned SHO was also suspended.
However, the protesters turned down their request and indulged in violence forcing the police to resort to lathi charge first to disperse the mob and when they still continued stone pelting on vehicles and police it fired tear gas shells to control the situation. Later the mob dispersed and order was restored. Some protesters were also injured, reports said.
The SDPO Border, Raghubir Singh said that police maintained utmost restrain and pleaded with the protestors to lift the road blockade as the Government has already taken action and the accused has been arrested. However they did not budge and resorted to stone pelting on police in which about a dozen police men were injured forcing it to resort to lathi charge and tear -gassing to disperse the violent mob.
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