Scores of protesters were injured in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday after clashes erupted between the government forces and protesters.
Local sources said that as soon as people started gathering at the freedom rally venue at Vihil, village defying curfew, government forces swung into action and fired tear smoke canisters and pellets to disperse them. Authorities had clamped strict curfew in the area to thwart a proposed freedom rally in the village about five KMs away from the south town.
“Soon after the clashes started and forces fired countless tear smoke shells a local government school building in the Chatwattan area caught fire however the cause of fire was not immediately known,” a local said. He said that scores of injured were shifted to PHCs like Harmain, Sedaw and Kachdora as they were not allowed to reach the district hospital due to strict curfew. However, DH Shopian sources said that they received eight injured and referred two of them to Srinagar for advanced treatment.
Locals alleged that government forces including police, army, SOG and CRPF looted many filled apple boxes and damaged hundreds of them during clashes. They further alleged that force personnel destroyed fruits worth lakhs of rupees in orchards as clashes spread.