The Hindu : Front Page : No let-up in Jammu violence, five injured

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Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008
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No let-up in Jammu violence, five injured

Hurling stones, protesters fight pitched battles with police; two houses torched in Poonch village

— photo: PTI

A policeman restrains a protester during Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti’s demonstration in Jammu on Tuesday.

Jammu: There was no let-up in violence in the Jammu region on Tuesday. Fresh clashes broke out between the police and protesters, leaving five injured as tension ran high in the city ahead of Wednesday’s rally by the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti over the shrine land imbroglio.

Hurling stones, the protesters fought pitched battles with the police, who used force to quell violence in the Purani Mandi and Parade areas here, official sources said.

Demanding removal of Governor N.N. Vohra and police officers who they alleged were responsible for using excessive force against innocent protesters, they also burnt tyres and torched effigies of political leaders.

The police burst teargas shells and resorted to cane-charge to restore calm, the sources said.

Protest rallies were also taken out in Samba, Udhampur and Reasi.

In Poonch district, two houses were set ablaze at Delara village even as normal life remained crippled in the entire region for the 59th day in the agitation for restoration of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

Shops and markets were shut and attendance in government offices and banks was thin as private and public vehicles remained off the roads.

Curfew was lifted in Kathua town on Tuesday, a day after it was imposed following clashes between the police and protesters.

Night curfew continued to remain in force in Kishtwar town, which was rocked by communal violence on August 12.

Meanwhile, efforts to resolve the land row suffered a jolt with the Samiti threatening to pull out of talks with the Governor-appointed panel unless the three police officers who, it alleged, had indulged in high-handedness against civilians were shunted out. — PTI

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