Five injured as protests continue in valley amid curfew

One person received a rubber bullet wound when security forces opened fire in Tarigami village of Kulgam district of south Kashmir,police said.

They said four persons were injured as security forces fired teargas shells and used lathis to disperse a stone pelting mob at Gousa-Kokernag in Anantnag district.

A 5000-strong crowd assembled at Narbal on Srinagar-

Baramulla highway and started a march to HMT-Zainakote but were prevented from carrying it out by police and paramilitary forces deployed in the area.

Subsequently,they sat on a dharna on the road for nearly four hours and later dispersed peacefully,the police said.

They said there were clashes between the protesters and the law enforcing agencies at Bijbehara in Anantnag,Kanikdal and HMT-Zainakote in Srinagar but there was no report of any casualty.

According to police,at Nihama in Pulwama district,three miscreants came on scooter and tried to force the closure of shops which were operating normally.

The shopkeepers resisted their attempt and in the ensuing skirmish they beat up the miscrents. The shopkeepers also informed the police who rushed to the spot but the miscreants managed to run away in injured condition before the police could reach the place,the police said.

Police said curfew was imposed in the city and all major towns in the Valley barring Ganderbal,Handwara,Shopian and Kulgam as a precautionary measure.

The authorities had lifted curfew in the Valley barring in Trehgam,Anantnag and Mattan towns yesterday coinciding with a break in the strike called by the separatists.

Shops and business establishments,banks,educational institutions and private offices remained closed and transport was off the roads across the Valley.

Kashmir has been rocked by violence following the death of a teenager on June 11 after being allegedly hit by a teargas shell at Gani Stadium near Rajouri Kadal. After that street protests broke out in the valley claiming 59 lives.