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| Protests rock Natipora following accident | | |
Srinagar, October 24 One day before Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Kashmir, heavy protests and rioting rocked Natipora area of Srinagar city following the death of a father-son duo when their scooter was hit by a speedy Scorpio vehicle used by JK police.
Police fired several rounds of bullets besides tear-smoke shells and resorted to cane charging to quell protests sparked by the killings. Protesters torched the Scorpio vehicle and pelted stones over the police personnel who reached the spot after the accident took place. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces has taken place in the area to prevent any more possible rioting.
Eyewitnesses said that 42-year-old Ali Mohammed Dar, a class fourth employee at the Bone and Joint Hospital Barzulla, was on way to his office along with his son Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat, 22, when a speedy police vehicle hit his scooter and it rebounded to crash with a roadside shop. While the father died on the spot due to the crash, his son was rushed to Bone and Joint Hospital in critical condition where the doctors declared him brought dead.
As the news of the accident spread, people took to streets and blocked all traffic by placing the Bhat's body in the middle of the road. The protesters shouted anti-police slogans and alleged that the Sikh constable driving the Scorpio vehicle was drunk. "He must be punished for negligence and the disaster he has brought to the family," said a protester, Farooq Ahmad. "Their Eid has been turned into mourning."
As police tried to quell the protest, these instead intensified when relatives from Bhat's in-laws house situated nearby joined the protest. In the clashes that followed, several persons were injured and the Scorpio vehicle was put to flames. The clashes continued all day and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces was witnessed throughout Nowgam area to prevent any further damage.
Police has, meanwhile, arrested the Sikh driver. "We have registered a FIR under section 304-A of the Ranbir Penal Code for negligent driving against the driver in Police Station Nowgam," said the concerned SDPO, Kesav Chaurasia.
The SDPO, however, dismissed claims that the driver was drunk. "He is a Amritdhari sikh who never drink," said the SDPO. "The constable was on duty and there is no chance that he could have been drunk."
The SDPO, meanwhile, said that protesters were on a rampage and police had to resort to cane charging to disperse them. |
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