Students clash with forces in Pulwama, dozens injured

Dozens of students of a government college in south Kashmir’s volatile Pulwama town were injured on Thursday during clashes between protesters and security forces.

Witnesses told Deccan Herald that two police vehicles stopped at the entrance of Degree College Pulwama in the morning which provoked the students. The students apprehended that the police had come to arrest their colleagues and resisted the entrance of cops into the college.

“Police then baton charged and fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protesting students. The police also fired some warning shots in the air as well,” they said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Pulwama, Rayees Bhat said that three students were injured due to pellets and teargas shells while more than two dozen received minor injuries.  “The students pelted stones on police and CRPF, who were there on a routine patrol nearly 200 metres away from the College,” he told Deccan Herald.

The SSP said that they were investigating upon the reasons of attack on security forces. “May be it was pre-planned to create a situation in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections,” he said.

Medical Superintendent of District Hospital Pulwama, Dr Abdul Rashid Parra said that 54 injured students were treated in the hospital. “Most of the injured were girl students, who had fainted or received bruises during the violence. Three of the critically injured students were referred to SMHS and SKIMS hospitals in Srinagar for specialised treatment,” he said.