A police spokesman blamed 'miscreants' for disturbing the situation in the city today.
Fifteen persons were injured in clashes between police and stone pelting youth protesting against alleged blasphemous depiction of the holy city of Madina on some products which resulted in disruption of life in parts of the city and Baramulla in north Kashmir.
Police fired warning shots and lobbed dozens of tear gas shells to disperse angry groups of youth who indulged in stone pelting in Maisuma, Kokerbazar and Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the city, official sources said.
The protests which were initially confined to old city areas, spread to civil lines and Baramulla in north Kashmir as the day advanced, resulting in clashes which left 15 people injured, the sources said.
A police spokesman blamed 'miscreants' for disturbing the situation in the city today.
"The attempt to create tension in the society is a deliberate move to disturb the situation by indulging in blasphemous rumours", he said.
The general public is advised to remain calm and caution against such elements", the spokesman told PTI.
He said the products in question were examined and they were found to be carrying imprints and sketches of various buildings on it which resembled places like Big Ben in London, St Paul's Cathedral of London and other places but no sketch has any likeness to any Muslim religious place or buildings,
he said.
The spokesman said police on its part will not hesitate to take action against such miscreant.
The trouble started in Nowhatta area of old city as people came out on the streets as word spread about the alleged act of blasphemy.
Protestors went around several areas in the city and forced shopkeepers to pull down their shutters and within minutes the area wore a deserted look, the sources said.
As the news spread like wild fire, people in other areas came out of their houses and started marching towards Lal Chowk but were intercepted by police at several places on the way especially at Nowpora, where they used lathis and fired tear gas shells to disperse the agitated crowds.
The protesters hurled stones on police leading to clashes between them.
The sources said people also took to the streets in Baramulla and protested against the alleged act. There were also clashes between the youth and police for quite some time but there was no report of any casualty, they said.
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