Jammu : Situation in Jammu was “tense” on Friday as Sikh youth defied prohibitory orders and held protests in various areas as part of a three-day old agitation which is spreading and saw one more policeman being stabbed and his AK rifle taken away.
Protests were also held in Kashmir besides Poonch, Rajouri and other parts of Jammu region on Friday over the death of a youth in clashes that erupted in Jammu on Thursday after hundreds of sikhs blocked road and pelted stones at cops over removal of posters of Khalistani militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Defying prohibitory orders, Sikh youth took to streets for the third day as protests spread over various areas in Jammu, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri districts. In Jammu, protests were held in various areas like Digiana, Gangyal, Canal, Tallab Tilloo, Rehari, Bakshinagar, Narwal and Gole Gujral areas. Groups of protestors blocked the Jammu-Pathakote highway and burnt tyres.
Streets of Jammu wore a deserted look and business establishments remained closed.
Mobile and internet services were also suspended in Jammu. Schools and colleges in several districts of the region were closed.
Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength in sensitive areas of Jammu city where the situation is described by authorities as “tense but under control”. Army late on Thursday night staged a flag march in parts of Jammu following violent clashes.
Authorities had clamped Section 144 of CrPC, which bars gathering of more than four persons at a place, in the entire Jammu district and curfew like situation prevailed in violence-hit areas of Satwari-Ranibagh-Gadigarh-R S Pura belt and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, some miscreants among the protestors stabbed a policeman and fled with his AK rifle in Gangyal area of Jammu city late on Thursday night, Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Jammu East Mohmmad Rafiq said.
The constable Joginder Pal, who is Personal Security Officer (PSO) of Deputy Superintendent of Police (Jammu East) Mohammad Rafiq, was shifted to the GMC hospital, where his condition has improved, the police officer said. “We have recovered the AK-rifle from some people this afternoon and a case has been registered. Arrest will also take place,” SDPO said.
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NC condemns use of force on protesters
Srinagar: Opposition National Conference on Friday strongly condemned the “poor” and “insensitive” handling by Jammu and Kashmir government of the situation in Jammu city after clashes between protesters and police.
Condemning the use of force on protesters, National Conference spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu expressed grief over “the tragic loss of an innocent life” and expressed concern over those civilians who have been injured in the clashes. “There are clear indications that this situation is a direct result of poor, insensitive handling of issues by the state government. Certain rash, confrontational statementsfrom prominent BJP leaders in the aftermath of this tragedy clearly prove what the PDP-BJP government’s intentions are,” Mattu said. Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday hit out at the ruling PDP-BJP coalition over waving of Pakistani flags in the Valley and emergence of Khalistani posters in Jammu, saying it has not been able to bring “regional balance” in the state. “Pakistani flags in Kashmir & Khalistani posters in Jammu. This wasn’t the regional balance we were promised by the Modi-Mufti accord,” Omar wrote on micro blogging site, Twitter.
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