At least 42 people suffered injuries due to shotgun metal pellets and shells fired by forces at protesters after clashes broke out during separate cordon-and-search operations (CASOs) in southern Kulgam and Shopian districts on Saturday.
GHAT KHUDWANI CLASHES
Government forces fired shotgun metal pellets into protesters in GhatKhudwani area of Kulgam district, injuring at least a dozen protesters who were demonstrating against an anti-militancy operation that lasted eight hours.
A source said that at around 10am, army’s 3 RR, police and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation in Ghat village of Khudwani following inputs about the presence of militants.
As the searches were on, people came out and disrupted the operation by throwing stones at the forces. The forces retaliated by firing teargas and pepper gas canisters.
The protesters, however, did not relent even when the forces fired lethal metallic pellets.
“We received around a dozen pellet injuries, one of whom who was hit in the eye. He was shifted to district hospital Anantnag,” a health official at the sub-district hospital, Qaimoh, told Greater Kashmir.
A doctor at the district hospital said that one person with pellet injury in the eye has been referred to the SMHS Hospital in Srinagar.
The search operation was on till late evening despite the intense clashes between the protesters and the forces.
The reinforcement was rushed to the area to prevent militants from escaping.
An official said that three militants were believed to be hiding in the area, but it was not clear whether they escaped or not.
MOURNERS THRASHED BY FORCES AT SLAIN MILITANTS HOUSE, SIX INJURED
Six people were injured in Waripora village of DH Pora area in Kulgam district, the native place of slain Hizb militant AamirTantray, who was killed at Arwani-Bijbehara on Thursday evening.
“Forces broke into the house and thrashed the mourners who had come to express solidarity with the family. The youth later pelted the forces with stones, triggering clashes,” a local resident said.
The forces fired teargas canisters and shotgun metal pellets into the protesTers, injuring six who were taken to nearby hospital.
SHOPIAN CLASHES
At least 30 people, a woman among them, were injured during clashes that broke out between forces and residents during a cordon-and-search operation in DreedKalipora village of Shopian district.
While door-to-door searches were in progress, scores of residents came out of their houses and pelted the forces with stones and bricks in a bid to hamper the operation, an official said, adding that the forces responded by firing tear smoke shells and shotgun metal pellets, causing injuries to as many as 30 persons including a middle-aged woman.
Shopian block medical officer Muhammad Yousuf said they received 30 people with both pellet and other shell injuries at primary health centre in DK Pora.
“Three of the injured persons including a woman (with injuries in their eyes), have been shifted to district hospital Shopian from where they have been sent to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar,” he said.
He identified the woman as Sadre Begum wife of Ghulam Kumar.
According to a local resident, Begum was standing by the windowsill of her home when forces fired the shotgun ammunition at her.
The operation was called off after no militant was found in the area.