Srinagar, Aug 19: Four members of a family were injured, three of them with bullets, in firing by police and CRPF in Aanchar, Soura, on the city outskirts Thursday morning. The family members and locals say that police and CRPF barged into the locality and damaged property before firing directly at the people.
Four other persons including two teenaged boys of the same locality, Tiplo Mohalla, received injuries in CRPF and police beating.
Teenager Sumaira, her father Habibullah Tiplo and aunt Fatima received bullet injuries while her teenaged brother, Muhammad Shafi, was severely beaten up by CRPF and police. Pertinently, Sumaira was engaged recently.
Sumaira, shot in the chest, was operated upon for more than two hours by the doctors at SKIMS to remove the bullet. She is in the surgical Intensive Care Unit of the institute, unconscious, with doctors terming her condition as critical.
The other three family members are being treated in Day Care ward of the institute. While Habibullah has received bullet injuries in his both shoulders, Fatima was shot in the thigh. Doctors have removed their bullets too. Shafi, whose clothes were all stained with blood, received injuries in both the legs and back. Another teenaged boy, Mehraj-ud-din, of same locality who was beaten by the forces is receiving treatment in the same ward.
Worried relatives and friends of the victims, many of them in tears, have rushed to SKIMS to inquire about the condition of the injured ones.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Fatima said, “There was no protest in the area. I was sitting in the compound of my house when the silence was broken by gunshots. I ran to the gate to call Habibullah inside. Sumaira was also standing on the gate. As I tried to push Habibullah inside, he was hit by bullets and fell down. I tried to support him inside the compound but another bullet hit me in the leg. Next, Sumaira fell down,” she said.
Mehraj-ud-din, a Pashmina weaver, said, “Around 9 am, a contingent of police and CRPF entered into the compound of two houses of Tiplo Mohalla and smashed windowpanes and damaged other household items. They tried to barge into another house. There was no male member of the family present there and the two females of the house jumped from the window of the first floor to save themselves. They were also injured,” he said. “They damaged my loom too.”
Fayaz Ahmad, another son of Habibullah, attending to the family members, said as the news about the police and CRPF barging into the houses spread in the locality, people including women and children came on the roads.
“As people started to march towards the spot from all sides, the police and CRPF party while running away from the spot fired in all directions,” Fayaz said.
His cousin said four persons including two teenagers were also beaten up by CRPF and police. “The firing by CRPF and police was totally un-provoked. There were no protests in Tiplo Mohalla. Instead there were some minor protests in nearby locality of Jenab Sahib,” he said.
Regarding the incident, a police spokesman said, “A huge mob pelted stones on a bunker near Jenab Sahib, Soura. The security forces had to fire in self defense. Three persons got injured.”

Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST