Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 3: Amid protests, heavy stone-throwing clashes between students and security forces erupted in Budgam and Pulwama districts today during which several students suffered minor injuries.
Scores of students of Boys Higher Secondary School Budgam today boycotted their classes and staged protests against recent police action against their counterparts in Pulwama Degree College and elsewhere. The students also demanded release of their detained peers and shouted slogans against the State administration as well as police.
Amid sloganeering, students came out of their school and blocked main road, resulting in disruption of vehicular movement. Large posse of police arrived on the spot and asked students to end their protest. However, the angry students pelted stones on police and their vehicles, ensuing heavy clashes between the two sides.
Police resorted to teargas shelling on the students who were pelting stones and within no time there were chaos and panic in whole of the Budgam town. The students and police clashed for several hours. Police fired scores of teargas shells to restore the order but students were unfazed and they continued throwing rocks and bricks.
The students alleged that police barged into their school and thrashed several of their counterparts to pulp. However, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Budgam, Inderjeet Sharma refuted such allegations and said police exercised maximum restraint while dealing with students.
“Students and some outsiders resorted to heavy stone-pelting but police fired only few teargas shells after the protesting students refused to go home and block the road,” he said. The CEO said that few boys sustained minor injuries during stone-pelting but no one was detained.
In view of today’s violence, the CEO said, there shall be no classwork in Budgam BHSS tomorrow. “There are some apprehensions of some violence and that’s why we have decided to keep school off tomorrow but other schools will function normally,” he said, adding that they also have to carry repair work of the school gate damaged today.
The clashes between students and security forces also erupted in restive Pulwama Town of South Kashmir today in the afternoon. Scores of students demanding release of their peers resorted to heavy stone-pelting on police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama town after which police used teargas shells to disperse them. No one was reported injured in these clashes but there were chaos and people were seen rushing for their safety. Police have detained at least 12 students in Pulwama who are allegedly involved in stone-pelting.
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