STUDENTS SET ABLAZE POLICE BIKE IN PULWAMA DURING CLASHES

SRINAGAR: Protesters in south Kashmir’s Pulwama set a policeman’s motorcycle on fire during a clash with cops on Tuesday.

The violence comes a day after Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra asked inspector general police (Kashmir range) Muneer Khan to devote special attention to see that schedules of students are not disrupted under any circumstances.

Vohra advised the Valley’s police chief to “immunise” the students from “influences which have the potential of vitiating their academic careers”.

Residents of Pulwama said dozens of students of a higher secondary school came out on the roads and started protesting in the main town against arrests of young men in the district.

“The students formed a human circle in the main town of the district on Srinagar-Shopian road leading to heavy traffic jam. The police responded by firing tear gas shells. The police action triggered clashes between youth and security forces,” said a resident, not wishing to be named.

Police said the students also caught hold of a policeman in plain clothes who was travelling on a bike. “Somebody may have been aware of his background. So they stopped him and set his bike ablaze,” said an official at Pulwama police control room.

Residents said around 20 people, some of them students, have been detained over stone pelting charges by police in the past few days. Seven youth were detained on Monday night alone.

Pulwama SP Chowdhary Aslam said the students were protesting over arrests in the area. The official said the policeman whose bike was set on fire was returning home.

Kashmir has been witnessing sporadic student protests since April 17 when thousands of college and school students hit the streets across the Valley over an incident of alleged police high-handedness.

DOZENS OF STUDENTS CAME OUT ON THE ROADS AND STARTED PROTESTING AGAINST THE ARRESTS OF YOUNG MEN IN THE DISTRICT