Kulgam youth injured in Army firing

Srinagar, Feb 05: A youth was injured after army allegedly opened fire on protesters in Hawoora-Mishpora village of Qaimoh tehsil of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday.
The Army personnel of 1RR opened fire at a group pelting stones at a patrol party in Hawoora on Monday morning.
An eye witness said that army opened fire after few youth booed them and pelted them with stones as they were patrolling the area.
The injured youth, identified as Arif Ahmad Lone, son of Abdul Rashid Lone of Hawoora, was shifted to sub-district hospital Qaimoh where from he was referred to District hospital Anantnag for specialized treatment.
Sources at the hospital said that Lone was hit by a bullet in his mouth. They said the youth, aged around 20, was later shifted to SMHS hospital in Srinagar.
Locals said that army ransacked several houses and thrashed the inmates. A woman, whom they identified as Reena, was shifted to a hospital following the thrashing.
A Srinagar-based army spokesman said they were ascertaining the details about the incident.
SSP Kulgam Shridhar Patil said that FIR was registered with regard to the incident and further investigations taken up.
“Some sections of media have reported that police have filed the FIR against army which is baseless,” he told GNS.
He further said that the condition of the injured youth Arif Ahmad Lone son of Abdul Rashid Lone is stated to be stable.
Meanwhile, police sources in the concerned police station told GNS that they have filed a case against the stone-pelters for the violence.
“A case under FIR No. 35/2018 under sections 147, 148, 149, 336,341 and 307 was registered against the youth involved in the violence”, they said.
However, locals of the area alleged that the army opened fire on people without any “provocation”.