At least 50 people, including 28 securitymen, were injured in fresh clashes between police and protestors in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
SRINAGAR: At least 50 people, including 28 securitymen, were injured in fresh clashes between police and protestors in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday even as the authorities secured release of two policemen held hostage by agitated villagers in Kupwara district.
The clashes took place at Magam in central Kashmir's Badgam district and Kakroosa in northern Kupwara district where two persons were killed and several others injured in police firing on Saturday, officials said.
Most of the people -- 20 policemen and 15 civilians -- were injured at Magam where people again took to streets on Sunday and blocked the Srinagar-Gulmarg road demanding action against the police personnel who fired on protestors demanding establishment of a degree college, they said.
One person was killed and 25 others were injured in the police action in the town on Saturday.
Eight policemen and seven civilians were injured in Kakroosa on Sunday even as the two policemen who were overpowered by people and kept in a house in the village since last evening were handed over to Kupwara Additional Deputy Commissioner Bashir Ahmad Wani.
The two, who were detained by villagers alleging that they were trying to set ablaze civilian property, were handed over after several rounds of parleys, reports said.
However, Superintendent of Police, Handwara, Haseeb Mughal said the policemen were rescued amid clashes which left eight police personnel injured. The service rifles of the rescued jawans are yet to be recovered, he said.
Besides the policemen, the officials said, seven protestors were also injured in the clashes which broke out when people took to streets demanding handing over of the body of Ghulam Mohammad Lone who succumbed to bullet injuries at Soura Medical Institute here this morning.
Lone was among four villagers injured in firing by policemen when two of them were taken hostage by the mob on Saturday.
Mughal said police exhibited maximum restraint while quelling the violent protests today. When the protesters did not heed to the request of civil and police authorities, some rounds were also fired in air, he added.
He said one of the two rescued policemen was in a serious condition and has been referred to Handwara district hospital.
The situation in the village was tense and reinforcements have been rushed to restore law and order, officials said.
The trouble erupted at around 6 pm on Saturday when the villagers chased a police party returning from an army camp and took two of them into their custody.
Strongly denying the allegations of the locals that the policemen were attempting to set their houses ablaze, Mughal said the police personnel were on official duty.
They were not involved in any kind of arson, he said adding, a police vehicle which was on its way back after dropping some policemen in 36 Rashtriya Rifles camp for a joint operation was stopped by the villagers at Kakroosa.
"The villagers who are being misled by certain vested interests clashed with the police and in the process a civilian was killed, while two policemen were taken hostage," he said.
Meanwhile, Kupwara Senior Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar also strongly refuted allegations that the policemen were behind the spate of arson incidents in the district.
Referring to the Panzgam incident where a policeman was held hostage by agitated villagers on the night of December 13, Kumar said night patrolling has been intensified on the orders of the District Magistrate to protect private property and check incidents of arson in Lolab area.
Separatist Kashmiri leaders, including pro-Pakistan Syed Ali Shah Gelani, have in the recent days accused intelligence and security agencies of setting properties of civilians ablaze.
In Magam, official sources said additional policemen have been rushed and roadblocks set up by the agitated people on Srinagar-Gulmarg road are being removed.
Several separatist and mainstream leaders visited the area on Sunday to express solidarity with the villagers. Among them were Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Mohammad Yaseen Malik, PDP leader Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Budgam Farooq Ahmed Renzu ordered an inquiry into the firing incident.
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