Students clash with security forces in parts of Kashmir

Srinagar, Apr 17 (PTI) Students clashed with security forces in several places in Kashmir valley today during protests against the alleged “highhandedness” of security forces at a college in Pulwama in south Kashmir. The students also boycotted classes. The protesting students, mostly from degree colleges across the valley and some universities, tried to take out rallies but were stopped by police, leading to clashes, police officials said. The clashes led to disruption in normal activities in various places including Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the city, the officials said. Various student groups had called for protests today against the “brutality” perpetrated by forces on students of Degree College Pulwama in south Kashmir on Saturday, leaving many a students injured. The trouble started when a group of students took out a rally near Sri Pratap (SP) College on Moulana Azad Road in the vicinity of Lal Chowk against the Pulwama incident, leading to clashes between the protesting students and the law enforcing agencies, the officials said. They said police fired dozens of teargas shells and used batons to chase away the protesting students who indulged in stone-pelting and fought pitched battles with them. The clashes created panic in the area, forcing shopkeepers to pull down the shutters of their establishments, the officials said, adding traffic on Moulana Azad Road was also affected. Soon after, protests broke out in nearby Women’s College and other colleges in the city and elsewhere in the valley. Protests were going on in various colleges in the valley including in Ganderbal, Baramulla, Shopian and Pulwama districts, the officials said. They said the clashes left many, including security forces personnel, injured. “We are compiling the details of the injured,” an official said. PTI