Spending 27 hrs listening to blasts was a nightmare for locals

Srinagar, Feb 13: The encounter at Srinagar’s Karan Nagar area, which ended after 27 hours on Tuesday with the elimination of two militants, was a horrifying experience for the civilians living in the vicinity.
Since Monday morning, two militants had been holed up in an under-construction building, after their unsuccessful bid to enter the headquarters of 23-batallion Central Reserve Police Force.
Restricted to their houses for the entire period, the civilians residing in Karan Nagar and its adjoining areas describe it as a horrifying experience.
“It was really horrifying,” said Ayan Mir, a resident of Batmaloo. “We didn’t sleep under the sound of gun shots. We could hear UBG shots, scores of which were fired.”
“At 11:30 pm, a big blast rocked the area. Then at 12:30 am, the firing resumed. After a lull, firing started against at 1:30 am, making us panic.”
A resident of Karan Nagar’s Gole market, Tanver Ahmad said that intermittent firing was going on throughout the night.
“It was a worst experience. We heard the sound of blasts several times, besides of gun shots. We remained indoors, unable to move to other place. The blasts were so powerful that the houses trembled,” he said.
Ahmad said they were apprehensive about what was going to happen in their neighbourhood.
It has been tougher for the patients who could not the SMHS Hospital.
“A few ambulances were allowed, but majority of them were not. There were many patients who were in private vehicles,” said Parvaiz Ahmad, who struggled to take his relative to the hospital.
“My relative had pain in abdomen. I had to take diversions to reach to the hospital.”