Srinagar: Curfew continued for the fifth day in most parts of the Valley today with security forces bracing for the first Friday prayers after the gunning down of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani.
Most of the areas remained calm even as two more persons wounded in street clashes died today, taking the death toll to 36 in the violence triggered by Burhan’s death. Government officials said two civilians who had received bullet injuries in clashes with security forces succumbed early on Wednesday.
While the situation continues to remain tense, reports point to another development that could spell more trouble. Media reports claim that a mob stormed a police station in Damhal Hanji Pora in Kulgam two days ago and decamped with 70 semi-automatic and automatic weapons of state police.
According to a report in TOI, even yesterday, two separate attempts were made with the purpose of looting weapons. The mob attacked a minority police picket in Tral town of Pulwama district setting fire to the picket. Policemen at the minority picket barely managed to save their lives and weapons.
Another mob also attacked four constables at a police post in Tral in the morning and tried to snatch their weapons. The policemen, however, managed to save their lives and weapons. In late evening, a police station was one again attacked in Karalpura but the CRPF and local police pushed back the mob.
In north Kashmir's Ganderbal town, another unruly mob attacked the local district magistrate (DM) who miraculously escaped unhurt. The DM had an armed escort of local policemen whom he ordered not to use firearms so that casualties to protesters are avoided. The DM's official vehicle was extensively damaged in the incident that occurred barely 200 metres away from the administrative complex in Ganderbal district.
Earlier on Monday, two CRPF men accompanying a civilian with a heart condition to a local hospital were attacked by a mob. The jawans fought despite being hit on the head with rods and stones and didn't let the protesters take the rifles.
On Saturday, a day after Burhan was killed, protestors had looted a police post in Brijbehara.
A senior state police official said that the crowd, especially youth, gathering in large numbers in areas like Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama districts in south Kashmir and Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara, Ganderbal and Bandipora towns, are indulging in attacking the police and paramilitary forces.
Meanwhile, a strict curfew was in place in large parts of the Valley as the state observed "Martyrs’ Day” to remember Kashmiris killed in police firing on protesters marching against the Dogra rule on July 13, 1931.
The Kashmir has been on the edge after security forces killed Burhan (22), and two of his associates in a south Kashmir village. Burhan’s killing triggered a vicious cycle of protests by unruly mobs. More than 1,500 people have been injured in days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces across the valley. South Kashmir has been the worst hit with most deaths reported from there. Thirty-three of the 36 deaths in the violent stir are from there.
