M A I N   N E W S

Amarnath Land Row
Mobs take on policemen
Jammu violence peaks, unconfirmed reports say two cops lynched
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service

Relatives of Sanjeev Singh, a protester who was killed in a clash with the police during a demonstration on Monday, mourn during his funeral in Samba. — Reuters

Jammu, August 5
Violent clashes over the Amaranth land row continued as protesters torched a police post, office of naib tehsildar and vehicles at Jourian, 50 km from Jammu, today. Over 40 persons, including 13 policemen, were injured in the clashes. Three cops suffered serious injuries.

Unconfirmed reports earlier said that two cops were lynched by an angry mob.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Jourian in the afternoon. They didn’t heed police warnings and charged towards the post with stones and sticks.

Even as the cops fired in the air to disperse the mob, protesters set ablaze the police post and allegedly thrashed post in charge Balwinder Singh and other policemen.

Additional police reinforcement and a column of the Army have been rushed to the spot to control the situation.

Prior to it, over 10 persons were injured, one critically, when protesters clashed with the police after reportedly setting ablaze the office of Naib Tehsildar at Jourian.

The police lathi-charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Even the cops were forced to fire in the air. Two mediapersons are among those injured.

The critically injured has been rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu.

Protesters also allegedly ransacked the CID office at Jourian. Jammu SSP S.D.S. Jamwal said though he was yet to receive any confirmed report, at least 15 persons have been injured during the attack on the police post. He said there have been no reports of any casualty as of now.

Meanwhile, curfew has been clamped in Kathua district too after the protesters clashed with the police at Kalibari area.

Several persons were injured in the clash. Agitators also hurled stones at Rajbagh police station in Hiranagar tehsil of the district.

They also uprooted railway track at Palli, 7 km from Kathua. Agitators at Mashka village in Bani area of Kathua district stopped the work on an NHPC project.

The protesters in Kathua too ransacked the Municipal Council office late last night.

Protesters also attacked the Kathua DC office with stones. The protesters also uprooted the railway track at Gaghwal, 10 km from Samba, bring rail traffic to and from Jammu to a grinding halt.

While the Peoples Revolutionary Movement (PRM) activists blocked the Jammu-Pathankot Highway at Raya Morh, the workers of various Hindu outfits stopped Kashmir-bound trucks at Madhopur in Punjab.

The protesters torched a private bus in Samba last night. They also damaged other vehicles.

There was heavy deployment of Army and paramilitary forces in Samba today prior to the cremation of Sanjeev Singh, who was killed in police firing yesterday.

Protesters staged a protest while keeping his body on the road, demanding action against the “guilty policemen”, besides a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and a government job for his wife.

However, both the victims were later cremated amid heavy Army and police presence. The other deceased, Sunny Padha, was cremated in Vijaypur. The administration has already ordered magisterial probe into the incident. The Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti members also participated in the funeral of the deceased.

Samiti convener Leela Karan Sharma sought the dismissal of the cops involved in the incident.

Violating curfew, the protesters took to the streets to lodge their protest at Rehari, Indra Nagar, Parade, Shastri Nagar and other areas of the city.

SMS ban in J&K will continue: SC

Delhi, August 5
The Supreme Court today stayed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s order of lifting the ban on SMS here which allegedly was aggravating the violence by spreading rumours during the ongoing protest on Amarnath land row.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan also stayed the high court direction asking the district administration to treat press identity cards as curfew passes to enable them perform their duties.

The state government had imposed a ban on the SMS on Sunday as it was being used to whip up the communal tension through rumours. — PTI