Srinagar: Blaming police and Para-military troopers for committing excesses day in and day out, dozens of areas in old city observed a complete shutdown on Saturday.Â
All the business establishments, schools and shops remained close while traffic was off the roads.
People in large numbers assembled in different parts of old city including Saraf-Kadal, Nowhatta, Kadi-Kadal, Bohri-Kadal and Maharaj Gunj and raised anti-police slogans. “After stone-pelting police and CRPF personnel target us without any reason and beat the inmates. They harass us on one or the other pretext,†Haji Abdul Gani told.
People alleged that police use pepper gas and ransack the houses. “We are being treated as cattle. After every Friday and Sunday, police and CRPF personnel especially during late hours forcibly enter our houses and beat us as we are not human and cattle,†Mohammad Yaqoob from Sarafkadal said.
People blamed police and Para-military forces for excesses and demanded the immediate removal of the CRPF bunker located at Saraf-Kadal. “There are two bunker’s one in Kawdara and the other one is at Saraf-Kadal. Every time the agitated youth attack these bunkers and on this pretext the CRPF personnel assisted by police ransack our houses and beat inmates,†shopkeeper, Mohammad Ayub said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar visited several parts of old city and interacted with people. He assured people that in future strict action will be taken against the cops involved in committing excesses. Meanwhile a top police official on condition of anonymity told that after stone pelting most of the youth enter into houses and to flush out those miscreants there remains no option with the police but to enter into the houses. “It is totally baseless to say that we use pepper gas in the area as we have already submitted all the pepper guns in police line. Some of the policemen entered into the houses to look for the stone pelters and the police committed no excesses,†he said.
