Violent clashes hit Yatra

Protests against the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board...

Protests against the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board SASB grew more violent on Tuesday with mobs taking to the streets, blocking roads and and pelting the police with stones across Jammu and Kashmir. While there were pitched battles between the police and protestors in Srinagar, normal life was disrupted by a BJP stir in Jammu.

More than 100 people, including policemen, were injured when mobs attacked Government offices and police posts in Srinagar and Ganderbal. The two areas had observed a complete shutdown on Tuesday. The yatra had to be suspended for several hours due to the protests in Ganderbal which falls on route to the cave shrine. Violence flared up in the Valley on Tuesday after the news spread of the death of one of the protestors injured in Monday8217;s clash with the CRFP. As many as 18 protestors had been injured on Monday as police used force to disperse them.

At Hawal, protests began when body of Feroz Ahmad Rah was brought to his home. Thousands of people attended Rah8217;s funeral prayers and marched towards the martyrs8217; cemetery at Eidgah where he was laid to rest. Soon after the burial, the protestors turned violent and attacked a CRPF camp at Sakidafar. At Nawab Bazar, the protestors attacked CRPF camp and dismantled two cement bunkers. As the police tried to stop them, they started pelting the police with stones. Similar clashes were witnessed at Hawal, Alamgari Bazar, Nowhatta, Masiuma, Habba Kadal, Khanyar and Rambagh.

The scene was repeated on Tuesday as the police fired blanks and teargas shells to quell the protests. Two Station House Officers were injured in the melee. 8220;There was massive stone-pelting in several parts of the Srinagar city,8221; said SSP Afad-ul-Mujtaba. 8220;Sixty-two persons were injured in the clashes. These include 24 policemen,8221; he added

Meanwhile in Jammu, members of the BJP held massive demonstrations and blocked the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Nagrota. Led by Jugal K Sharma, MLA from Nagrota, party workers took out a massive rally. Shouting slogans and burning effigies of leaders of PDP and the National Conference, the protestors blocked traffic for nearly two hours.