Adil Lateef
SRINAGAR, May 23: Students, who were seeking release of their peers, resorted to violence, beat a policeman and set ablaze his motorcycle in Kashmir today while militants during nocturnal hours thrashed nearly two dozen persons including political workers in Pulwama district.
Scores of school students today assembled at Rajpora Chowk in Pulwama district and staged a protest to seek release of their detained classmates. The students blocked road and stopped traffic movement. The students said that over a dozen of their classmates have been detained by police on charges of stone-pelting and sought their immediate release.
As the students were protesting, they intercepted a policeman on his motorcycle. The policeman was identified as Constable Bilal, posted in Pulwama. Witnesses said after learning about the identity of the cop, they thrashed him ruthlessly and also set ablaze his motorcycle. Police, who were not present at the scene of protest earlier, rushed to the spot and started teargas shelling on students.
While the students resorted to heavy stone-pelting on cops and also paramilitary personnel, the police managed to rescue Constable Bilal who was left injured due to beating. The policeman was shifted to hospital for treatment. The stone-throwing clashes between students and security forces spread to other markets of the Pulwama Town, resulting in suspension of business and transport activities. The clashes continued for several hours.
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The students of Government Degree College Bemina in summer capital also staged violent protests against what they termed ‘disappearance’ of a student by police. The protesting students said one of their mates identified as Tufail Kabeer Mir, son of Abdul Kabeer Mir, resident of Parimpora Srinagar is missing from past several days. They alleged that he was picked up by police. The students while seeking whereabouts of missing student resorted to heavy stone-pelting on police throughout the day while the latter resorted to teargas shelling.
The students of Kashmir University also staged a protest inside Hazratbal campus against the arrest of a media student, Tahir Ahmad, under Public Safety Act (PSA) and sought his immediate release. The protest, however, concluded on peaceful note.
Meanwhile, a large group of militants swooped down on Naira village of Pulwama district and raided houses of political workers and drug peddlers. Sources said that the militants during night hours thrashed at least two dozen political workers and drug peddlers. The militants threatened these persons and asked them to mend their ways, sources added.
In the meanwhile, locals of Kralpura in Kupwara district foiled an attempt of police’s Special Operation Group (SOG) to arrest one Muhammad Ashraf Mir by resorting to stone-pelting. A police official said that SOG went to detain Ashraf for questioning but a large mob stepped in and pelted stones to save him from detention.
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