Government forces on Sunday allegedly vandalized property and beat up inmates following a stone pelting incident at Syedabad village of Tral township in Pulwama district.
Speaking to Greater Kashmir, the residents alleged that men in uniform barged into their locality and smashed windowpanes of several house and thrashed the inmates.
Locals said the government forces were returning from the area after the culmination of a cordon and search operation and were they were pelted with stones by some youth.
“The forces thrashed several persons and smashed windowpanes of houses following a stone-pelting incident in the village. They (forces) also detained one youth who was released later,” locals said.
Earlier, the forces had cordoned off the area. Jammu & Kashmir police, Army’s 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and 180 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had jointly launched the cordon operation on Sunday.
An official said the search operation was launched after specific inputs about the presence of militants. The operation however was lifted by evening after nothing was found in the area.
When contacted, superintendent of police Awantipora Muhammad Zahid Malik denied the allegations by the locals. “The stone pelting youth were chased away without using any force on them,” he said.