Protestors attack Mangat Ram146;s car

Before the situation could escalate, a security guard managed to get Sharma to safety. Following the attack, Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed near Sharma8217;s residence, but later, the protestors attacked a police picket in the area and torched three cars.

After curfew was lifted in Jammu district on Thursday from 5 am to 8 pm, people continued to hold protests. In posh Gandhi Nagar area, protesters torched a car, besides smashing the window panes of another.

A Tata Mobile carrying wheat flour meant for distribution under the public distribution system PDS was also looted in Janipur area.

During the evening, the police also lobbed teargas shells to disperse protesters who were taking out a rally in front of the GGM Science College in Jammu.

Violent protests also swelled elsewhere, especially in parts of Kathua and Udhampur districts. In Kathua town, a crowd of more than three thousand took out a mock funeral procession of the UPA Government and burnt effigies on a makeshift pyre.

Over a dozen people were injured in various clashes with the police, who arrested 18 people on charges of rioting from different places. Incidentally, in the wake of continued violence, the state Government shifted SSP Jammu S D S Jamwal within less than a month of him taking charge of Jammu district.