Srinagar: Curfew was on Tuesday extended to all major towns of the Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure after violent clashes left 17 people dead and over 70 injured, official sources said here.
The sources said the curfew was imposed in fresh areas as a precautionary measure and to prevent people from pouring out on roads and streets.
Srinagar city, Anantnag, Bijbehara, Awantipora, Lethpora, Pampore and Pulwama towns in south Kashmir and Sopore town in north Kashmir were already under curfew since Sunday.
The new areas that have been brought under the ambit of prohibitory orders include Budgam town, Choon, Mirgund, Ompora, Narkara, Shekhpora, Humhama, I.G.Road, Gulwanpora, Nadir Gund, Chadoora and Wathoora in central Kashmir's Budgam district.
Curfew was also imposed in Ganderbal and Kangan towns, Kulgam, Qoimoh, Shopian town, Baramulla town, Tangmarg, Kupwara town, Tregham, Kralpora, Handwara, Chotipora, Kulangam and Bandipora town.
A police spokesman said a mob took out the belongings and bedding of police personnel from a police post at Khanabal-Pahalgam Road in Anantnag town last night and set them on fire.
A troops carrier of the state police was torched at Charier Sharief in Budgam district, he said.
Fresh violence erupted in Kashmir yesterday, leaving 17 dead, including a policeman and over 70 injured with mobs torching several government properties and a private school after a television report alleged desecration of a holy book in the US.
The state cabinet yesterday condemned the alleged act of desecration and made a fervent appeal to the people not to take law in their own hands.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had yesterday voiced concern over the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. He also sought to reach out to the people in the state, saying their grievances have to be addressed and promised talks within the Indian Constitution with those who abjure violence.
A report from Jammu says: Curfew was clamped in the border district of Poonch, a day after a mob protesting against alleged desecration of a holy book in the US clashed with police leaving 20 people injured.
Curfew has been imposed in Poonch since Tuesday morning in view of the tense situation, police said. Additional police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the border town and strict curfew is being imposed, he said. Security has also been beefed up around a school belonging to a minority group.
About 8,000 people had taken out a procession from Parade Ground in the border town yesterday and raised anti-US and pro-Islamic slogans.
When police tried to stop them, the protestors had turned violent and resorted to stone pelting on police and later set afire forest building and some vehicles.
Police then used teargas and also fired about 30-40 rounds in the air to disperse the stone-pelting crowds. Over 20 people, including four policemen were injured during the clashes. The protestors later reached Idgah Chowk where they held a dharna till late night.
Defying curfew, stone pelters on Tuesday targeted the house of a former legislator and clashed with security forces at different places in Kashmir, leaving at least six persons injured.
An unidentified youth was seriously injured when security forces allegedly opened fire to chase away a stone-pelting mob at Boatman colony in Bemina locality here this afternoon, a police spokesman said. He said security forces initially used tear gas shells to disperse the protesters who had blocked a highway but they indulged in heavy pelting.
The injured has been referred to SKIMS hospital Soura, official sources said adding one more person was injured in the incident and was shifted to nearby JVC hospital.
In Bandipora district of North Kashmir, a mob pelted stones on the house of former MLC Habeebullah at Watipora, 60 kms from here, the spokesman said However, the stone-pelters were chased away by police. Another group of people defied curfew at Khanpora, 50 kms from here, and indulged in heavy stone-pelting on the police and paramilitary forces, sources said.
They said security forces fired warning shots and lobbed teargas shells, resulting in injuries to two persons - Javid and Tariq Ahmad. Reinforcements have been rushed to the area as clashes were continuing when last reports were received, they said.
A mob attacked the battalion headquarters of CRPF in Zianakote industrial area, prompting the security personnel to open fire, the police spokesman said. One youth was injured in the incident on the outskirts of the city.
He was rushed to hospital where his condition was stated to be stable. Abdul Rashid Ganai was hit by a rubber bullet in the chest at Chadoora after a stone-pelting mob attacked security forces in the town, 16 kms from here in Budgam district.
The spokesman said stone pelting has also been reported from Sumbal in Bandipora district and Harapora-Handwara in Kupwara district, Achabal and Sirigufwara in Anantnag district, Paichoo, Tahab, Chowkand and Bonoora in Pulwama district.
At some places, security forces used teargas shells and batons to disperse the stone-pelters but there was no report of any casuality, the sources said. Meanwhile, Mohammad Maqbool Sheikh, who was critically injured in firing at Pampore, succumbed to injuries at a hospital here, raising the toll in yesterday's violence to 18, the sources said. PTI
