Government employees arrested for instigating violence in Kashmir

J&K police arrested five people, including three government
employees, on Sunday for instigating violence and enforcing
a separatist-sponsored shutdown in Handwara in Kupwara district.

“The miscreants [including the five arrested people] had beaten up shopkeepers and even ransacked a few shops. They were forcing shopkeepers to shut their shops,” a police spokesperson said.

The five arrested include, fisheries department employee Ghulam Mustafa, forest guards Waseem Hassan Banday and Mushtaq Ahmed Banday and students Saleem Yousuf Banday and Manzoor Ahmad Banday.

Stray incidents of stone-pelting were reported at Habba Kadal in Srinagar’s Chhota Bazar and Palhallan in Baramulla. A deputy superintendent of police was injured in the incident.

Union minister Farooq Abdullah said some elements were instigating the youth to regain lost power in the state. “People should realise the Kashmir issue can’t be resolved in a month. They should not become prey at the hands of such forces,” he said.