Over two dozen protesters injured in Pulwama

SRINAGAR — At least 25 people were injured, four of them due to “bullets” as government forces resorted to firing live ammunition and pellets in order to disperse large number of protesters near Beighpora area of Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday.

Authorities also snapped mobile telephone services of private operators and mobile internet services across the Kashmir Valley.

Reports and official sources said that a large number of people took to streets and staged protests as soon as news about Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo getting trapped in the cordon laid by police, Army and CRPF spread.

As the day progressed, many more people from adjoining villages also reached Beighpora and raised slogans while pelting stones at the deployments of police and paramilitary CRPF in the fringes of the cordon, they said.

The government forces resorted to live ammunition besides used pellets to disperse the protesters who dispersed and regrouped again and again, they said. Many people were injured in the clashes and 25 of them were shifted to District Hospital Pulwama and other health facilities in the southern Kashmir district.

Medical Superintendent of District Hospital Pulwama, Dr Mir Mushtaq said that 16 injured were received at the hospital. “Four of them had bullet wounds while remaining had received pellet injuries,” he said, adding, “All of them were shifted to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital for specialized treatment.”

Medical Superintendent SMHS Hospital, Dr Nazir Choudhary also confirmed that 16 persons, four of them having bullet and other pellet wounds, were received and admitted to the hospital.

Nine more people have been admitted to nearby hospitals or were discharged after treatment, they added.

Some police and paramilitary forces also suffered injuries in the clashes but exact number was not revealed by the official sources.