2 COPS LYNCHED, 56 INJURED AS J&K BURNS OVER AMARNATH ISSUE
New Delhi August 6:
In what turned out to be another surge of violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land issue, two policemen were lynched in Jorian with protesters torching police posts and vehicles and uprooting 1.5 kms of railway track in several areas in Jammu region, leaving 56 injured.
Police opened fire at protestors in Jurian sector in Jammu region. Eight policemen were injured as the protestors burnt a police station and tehsil office. Also, rail traffic to Jammu was suspended after protesters pulled out 800 metres of railway track and burnt wooden logs on a nearby railway bridge in Gagwal.
In Srinagar, another five persons were injured in clashes between police and stone-pelting agitators who were protesting against the call to blockade Jammu-Srinagar highway given by Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and the killing of a youth. The two policemen were lynched after police opened fire in the border area of Jorian where protesters burnt down a police post, a Gypsy vehicle and a tehsildar's office.
As many as 29 persons including 13 cops were injured in the violence, forcing authorities to call out the army. In Akhnoor town, protesters, demanding removal of Governor N N Vohra, set fire to a police post and a tent housing security personnel. Police there had earlier fired teargas shells and resorted to cane charge.
Curfew was imposed in Kathua after police and protesters fought pitched battles in which 18 persons including 5 cops were injured, official reports reaching Jammu said. The agitators set fire to a railway police post and a municipal office in Kathua. Protesters uprooted 1.5 kms of railway track and stopped an army special train in Gagwal area in Samba district where at least four persons were injured in police-protester clashes.
Police lobbed teargas shells to quell stone-throwing protesters in Srinagar's Maisuma locality where the youth was killed yesterday after being hit by a teargas shell. While four persons were wounded during clashes and teargassing, one person was injured when he was hit by a stone in Budhshah Chowk area where protesters and police fought a pitched battle, official sources said.
Police also tear gassed protesters in Nowhatta and Chanapora localities of the city, they said. All the injured have been admitted to SMHS hospital here. Srinagar wore a deserted look as schools, colleges, shops and business establishments remained closed in major areas in the wake of the violence. Police reports said that there was tension in Sopore, Baramulla, Anantnag and Pulwama areas in the valley.
Meanwhile, a magisterial inquiry was today ordered into the police firing in Jammu region's Samba district in which two persons were killed and 18 others were injured during a protest rally on the Amarnath issue yesterday. The probe will investigate what prompted police led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhat Singh to open fire without magisterial orders, Samba District Magistrate Surav Bhagat told media.
New Delhi August 6:
In what turned out to be another surge of violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land issue, two policemen were lynched in Jorian with protesters torching police posts and vehicles and uprooting 1.5 kms of railway track in several areas in Jammu region, leaving 56 injured.
Police opened fire at protestors in Jurian sector in Jammu region. Eight policemen were injured as the protestors burnt a police station and tehsil office. Also, rail traffic to Jammu was suspended after protesters pulled out 800 metres of railway track and burnt wooden logs on a nearby railway bridge in Gagwal.
In Srinagar, another five persons were injured in clashes between police and stone-pelting agitators who were protesting against the call to blockade Jammu-Srinagar highway given by Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and the killing of a youth. The two policemen were lynched after police opened fire in the border area of Jorian where protesters burnt down a police post, a Gypsy vehicle and a tehsildar's office.
As many as 29 persons including 13 cops were injured in the violence, forcing authorities to call out the army. In Akhnoor town, protesters, demanding removal of Governor N N Vohra, set fire to a police post and a tent housing security personnel. Police there had earlier fired teargas shells and resorted to cane charge.
Curfew was imposed in Kathua after police and protesters fought pitched battles in which 18 persons including 5 cops were injured, official reports reaching Jammu said. The agitators set fire to a railway police post and a municipal office in Kathua. Protesters uprooted 1.5 kms of railway track and stopped an army special train in Gagwal area in Samba district where at least four persons were injured in police-protester clashes.
Police lobbed teargas shells to quell stone-throwing protesters in Srinagar's Maisuma locality where the youth was killed yesterday after being hit by a teargas shell. While four persons were wounded during clashes and teargassing, one person was injured when he was hit by a stone in Budhshah Chowk area where protesters and police fought a pitched battle, official sources said.
Police also tear gassed protesters in Nowhatta and Chanapora localities of the city, they said. All the injured have been admitted to SMHS hospital here. Srinagar wore a deserted look as schools, colleges, shops and business establishments remained closed in major areas in the wake of the violence. Police reports said that there was tension in Sopore, Baramulla, Anantnag and Pulwama areas in the valley.
Meanwhile, a magisterial inquiry was today ordered into the police firing in Jammu region's Samba district in which two persons were killed and 18 others were injured during a protest rally on the Amarnath issue yesterday. The probe will investigate what prompted police led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhat Singh to open fire without magisterial orders, Samba District Magistrate Surav Bhagat told media.
