Baramulla, March 9
Curfew was re-imposed in parts of Baramulla and Sopore towns in north Kashmir following fresh clashes this morning.

The authorities had lifted restrictions from these areas like in other parts of the Valley today. At least 26 persons were injured in protests and subsequent clashes held against detention of arrested youth in the old town Baramulla and Sopore.

Police and CRPF fired pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, leading to clashes. The protesters were demanding release of youth detained by police during the past three days.

The protesters pelted with stones vehicles and shopkeepers who had opened their shops, to enforce the shutdown.

Traffic movement came to a halt following stone-throwing in Baramulla and Sopore. At least 16 youth were injured in old town Baramulla and eight others in Sopore following the clashes. Police has arrested around 24 youth from Baramulla and Sopore towns on charges of stone-pelting during the past three days.

A protester received several pellet injuries on his back and was rushed to medical dispensary Delina for treatment, from where he was referred to District Hospital Baramulla. Following the clashes, additional contingents of police and CRPF were deployed in Sopore and Baramulla to enforce the restrictions.

Cops managed to disperse the protesters following intense teargas shelling in Sopore around 4 pm, sources said. In Baramulla, clashes were going on intermittently in old town till the evening. Restrictions continued in Lalpora village of Lolab valley in Kupwara, reports said. They said police and CRPF deployed in full strength enforced the restrictions.

The locals alleged cops ransacked some houses in the locality last evening. At least 15 persons including a woman were injured in clashes at Lalpora village yesterday.

Life returned to normal in other major towns of north Kashmir, reports said. Markets witnessed a good rush of shoppers in Kupwara, Handwara and Bandipora and traffic movement resumed.

Kupwara, March 9
A five-year-old boy was killed by a leopard at Pazipora village in Handwara tehsil of Kupwara district. Faizan Ahmad Lone, son of Gh Nabi Lone of Pazipora, 15 km from Handwara, was attacked and killed by a leopard when he was standing in the backyard of his house.

“A leopard appeared from behind and pounced on the boy. The animal killed him instantly and his mutilated body was recovered around 200 metre away from his home,” said a local.

The locals held a protest demonstration against the wildlife authorities following the incident. They alleged that the department had failed to rein in wild animals, who are on the prowl and are posing serious danger to humans and livestock. They raised slogans against the authorities and blocked traffic on Handwara road.

“The animals are on a killing spree and the department is watching as a mute spectator. Dozens of livestock have been devoured and we are facing serious threat to our lives,” said Nazir Ahmad, a local.

Wildlife officials visited the spot and assured the locals that necessary measures would be taken to stop the increasing movement of wild animals into areas inhabited by human beings.

“We have set up a cage in the village and the animal will hopefully be trapped. The animals have intensified movement into human habitations due to fresh snowfall in upper reaches two weeks back,” said a wildlife official.

He asked residents to restrict their own movement, especially in the evening hours. The scare of wild animals continues to haunt residents of Lolab too.

Residents of Charkote, Dardpora, Maidanpora, Charkote and Warnow in Lolab said they were scared to venture out of their houses due to increasing movement of wild animals. They said bear and leopards were on the prowl in villages and the department was doing nothing to curb movement of animals.

“The wild animals are on the prowl in villages even during the day,” said Abdul Hamid of Dardpora Lolab. Residents of some hamlets near forests, including Haphrada, Ophan, Kalaroose and Doolipora said they were reeling under intense scare of wild animals. “Movement in the evening has become difficult. Children are more prone to attacks by wild animals. Despite pleas, wildlife officials have never bothered to visit our villages,” said Shabir Ahmad of Kalaroose.

Srinagar, March 9
Srinagar remained jampacked with traffic throughout Saturday after nearly a week-long spell of shutdown as the curfew was lifted today.

Some of the vital road links of Srinagar including Ram Bagh crossing, Sanat Nagar chowk, Nowgam bypass, Jehangir Chowk, Budshah Bridge, Amira Kadal Bridge, Exchange Road, Regal Chowk, Khayam Chowk and Khanyar witnessed hours-long traffic jams throughout the day.

Commuters had a tough time reaching workplaces, markets and other destinations as they were 
stuck in traffic jams for hours together.

At various places, the traffic signals, which stopped working, added to the chaos, with traffic movement being manually regulated by a few cops.

“It took me two hours to reach SMHS Hospital from Exchange Road, Lal Chowk, which makes for a distance of hardly 1.5 kilometres and normally takes 15 minutes to cover. The reason: The traffic lights at Karan Nagar Chowk weren’t working. After a huge traffic jam in the area, traffic police stationed some cops there and the traffic finally began to move,” Dr Shafat Farooq, a doctor, said.

Cops blamed the masses for the irksome traffic jams.

“The people should discipline themselves and abide by rules. Even when we challan people for violation of norms, there seems to be no relenting on their part. People are parking their cars on roads even if we tow these vehicles away. We fined people today for jumping signals too,” Sikanadar Ahmad, a traffic cop stationed at Baghat Hyderpora Chowk, said.

Over the years, although the traffic police department has deployed cops at major intersections in the city, according to people, that has not brought about any improvement in traffic management.

“Tens of thousands of vehicles which ply on Rambagh-Civil Line areas every day are manned by just a few traffic cops who too are not visible now when its gets dark and cold in the evenings. Lakhs of commuters are facing problems and there is a mounting problem of road accidents too,” said Ghulam Muhammad Shah, a commuter.

Srinagar, March 9
More than 200 police and CRPF personnel including many officers have been injured in Srinagar and the four districts of south Kashmir since the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

A police spokesman said 109 policemen and 73 CRPF personnel have been injured in clashes in Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian districts of south Kashmir in the last one month.

Afzal’s hanging on February 9 has led to a series of shutdowns, curfews and protests in Kashmir valley as tensions kept mounting this week after the mysterious death of a PhD student in Hyderabad and killing of a post-graduate student in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

The police spokesman said 45 CRPF vehicles, 35 police vehicles and three government vehicles have also been damaged in the four south Kashmir districts.

In Srinagar city, where the volatile neighbourhoods have been placed under strict curfew for several days since Afzal’s hanging, 36 police and CRPF personnel have been injured.

One Superintendent of Police, one Deputy Superintendent of Police and an Assistant Commandant of CRPF, one Inspector, four Sub-Inspectors, three Assistant Sub-Inspectors, two head constables, 22 constables of police and CRPF and a special police officer are among those injured in the city.

On Friday, when most of the Kashmir valley was under a strict curfew, 79 police and CRPF personnel including four officers were injured in clashes across the region.

In north Kashmir, 65 police and CRPF personnel including four officers were injured in clashes in north Kashmir while 11 police and paramilitary personnel were injured in south Kashmir and three policemen were injured in Srinagar city.

The exact number of civilians injured in the last one month remain unknown.

Srinagar, March 9
Defeating Raj Milk Football Club 2-1 in the semi-final, J&K Bank Football Club entered the final of 2nd All India Football Tournament for “Bihar Cup” 2012-13.

In the final, the club will be playing against the State Bank of Travancore football team from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Being a local team, Raj Milk FC was the crowd’s favourite and it was not easy for J&K Bank Football Club.

A bank spokesman said the team, however, played a wonderful game and its captain Rizwan Ahmad scored the first goal in the 38th minute, but the lead didn’t last long and the team conceded equalizer in the 44th minute of the match.

“However, during the last minutes of the game, a superb header by young Umer Jan found its way into the opposite net, giving J&K Bank Football Club winning margin of one goal,” he said.

Earlier, the team defeated Army XI Lucknow 3-0 in the quarter-finals.

The final is scheduled for March 10 and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is the chief guest on the occasion.

The tournament is being organised by Pataliputra Art, Culture and Sports Foundation, Government of Bihar. Sixteen teams participated from across the country, among which, SESA Goa, MEG Bangalore, Assam Reg, KECB and SBT were the favourites.

Kupwara, March 9
At least 150 poor students from Hirri and adjoining villages, near Trehgam in Kupwara district, were benefited by free tuition classes, held by 160 Infantry Territorial Army (TA) battalion.

The free tuition classes on various subjects were held at Patahiri from December last year to the first week of March, benefiting students who could not afford tuitions. The students and their parents thanked the army for holding the necessary classes and hoped that such free classes would be held in the future as well.

“We are highly thankful to the local TA battalion for imparting education during the winter vacations. Our wards would have been forced to sit idle at home if the Army had not been kind enough to take care of their education. We are poor people and cannot afford tuitions,” said Abdul Samad, a parent.

For the past two years, the local TA battalion, under the aegis of Vajr division, has been conducting these tuition classes.

Apart from teachers from the Army, local teachers are hired to impart education to the children.

CEO, Kupwara, Rasool Lone, who attended the closing ceremony at Patahiri, hailed the efforts of TA and assured necessary support from the education department for its future endeavours.

Senior officers of TA battalion and senior citizens were also present at the ceremony.

Srinagar, March 9
The two factions of Hurriyat Conference, headed by Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have condemned the use of force by the authorities to quell the protestors and the arrests and detention of separatist leaders and youths across the Valley by the police.

Squarely blaming the main stream political parties for the current situation in Kashmir, chairman of the hardliner faction of Hurriyat Conference today said from the arrests and the curfews it appeared that the authorities had decided to “suppress their political opponents”.

“The house arrest of Geelani soon after his arrival, detention of other Hurriyat leaders and the subsequent curfews and the use of force by the police and security forces indicates as if marshal law has been imposed in Kashmir”, a Hurriyat spokesman said in a statement here.

He also criticised the authorities for imposing curfew across the Valley and not allowing Friday prayers at many places.

In a separate statement, the Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz said the actions of the authorities during the past week indicated as if the government had declared a war against the people.

“The Hurriyat condemns the use of force on protestors in different parts of Kashmir and the ransacking of the houses by security forces in many areas. This is a declaration of war against the people, which will further deteriorate the situation in Kashmir”, a spokesman said.

The spokesman also condemned the continuous house-arrest of Mirwaiz and detention of other Hurriyat leaders.

Srinagar, March 9
Senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra today said the state government must immediately put an end to the reign of repression let loose by the law-enforcing agencies.

In a statement issued here today, Karra said Kashmir had already seen thousands of deaths and its hapless populace had undergone untold miseries.

“We can not afford to lose another generation to another vicious circle of violence,” he said and called for measures to be taken urgently to rein in the government forces to restore peoples’ confidence.

Terming the arrival of the present regime in 2009 as the biggest misfortune for the state, Karra said having completely failed to handle the situation both on political and developmental fronts, the state government, instead of taking measures in anticipation of the trouble, only reacted in panic and created circumstances adding to the public outrage.

“The irony is that the inhabitants of Srinagar city, who were instrumental in installing the present regime with lot of fanfare, have become the victims of its atrocities and rampant mis-governance,” Karra said. He added that he was pained to see the despondency, helplessness and despair among the people all around.

Karra said while public outrage was justified in the present atrocious and appalling scenario, he appealed people to maintain calm.