Srinagar: Police on Wednesday used batons and fired tear smoke shells to break-up an anti-army demonstration after an army vehicle knocked to death a youth in Srinagar, barely hours after a man was hit and injured by another army vehicle in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
Muhammad Ashraf Sheikh of Zewan Bala was killed on the spot while his pillion rider Abdul Hamid Mir was injured when their two-wheeler (JK01AD-0992) was hit by an army vehicle near the garrisoned locality of Pandrethan in the city outskirts on Wednesday evening, witnesses told Kashmir Observer. The injured man, they said was removed to the hospital for treatment.
Sheikh’s death, eyewitnesses said set off strong anti-army demonstration in the area. Dozens of people, including women hit the streets and staged a protest seeking punishment for the army driver for crushing the youth to death.
Angry protesters, eyewitnesses said also blocked Srinagar-Jammu highway near Pandrethan to denounce what they termed ‘murder’ of the scooty rider.
A local news agency KDC reported that police fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters and to throw highway open for traffic.
The report quoting an unnamed police official said that cognizance of the incident has been taken.
Earlier in the day, anti-army protests broke out in Kangan area of Ganderbal district after an army vehicle hit a minibus, injuring an elderly man.
55-year-old Muhammad Maqbool Khan of Hariganiwan Kangan was injured after the minibus, he was travelling in was hit by an army vehicle. The injured man was shifted to Sub District Hospital (SDH) Kangan for treatment. However, the doctors there referred him to SKIMS Soura for advanced treatment.
The accident, witnesses said set off anti-army protests in the area. Chanting slogans, dozens of people blocked Srinagar-Leh road demanding action against the driver.
Later, a police team reached the spot and pacified the protesters by assuring action.
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