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Protesters lynch two policemen in J&K
JAMMU: Two policemen were on Tuesday lynched by protesters in J&K's Jorian sector, as the Amarnath land row agitation raged on in the state with violent protests in both Srinagar and Jammu. Eight policemen were injured as protestors torched a police station and tehsil office in Jorian. Police had to open fire to to control the agitators. Jorian is a border town about 45 km north of Jammu.Earlier, Rail traffic to Jammu was suspended after protesters pulled out 800 metres of railway track and burnt wooden logs on nearby railway bridge in Gagwal. An angry mob blocked the Jammu-Pathankote National Highway from Kathua to Vijaypur - a stretch of nearly 50 km. Some of the protesters, according to sources, also damaged the Jammu-Pathankote railway track between Ghagwal and Samba - a stretch of 10 km. The sources said the police and army troopers present there could only watch as mute spectators. People claiming to be eyewitnesses said the furious protesters were shouting "it is the time for Delhi to listen (to them)". The fresh spate of violence comes a day after two protesters were allegedly killed in police firing in Samba town. Their bodies were cremated Tuesday amid raging anger and anguish over the Amarnath land row. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday ordered a magisterial probe into the alleged police firing in Samba on demonstrators blocking traffic on the Jammu-Pathankote Highway to press for their demand of restoration of 40 hectares of forest land in north Kashmir to the board of a Himalayan cave shrine in south Kashmir. The protesters alleged that district police chief Prabhat Singh opened fire first and other policemen followed. Official sources said Governor NN Vohra, who is performing chief ministerial functions after the state assembly was dissolved July 9, took cognizance of the case and ordered that the killings be probed by a magistrate. District official Saurav Bhagat told newsmen that a "magisterial probe has been ordered", and soon the terms of reference would be announced. But the people were not satisfied and were demanding action against the accused police officer. Hundreds of them Tuesday laid siege to the highway demanding that the accused be brought to book. Police officials said traffic came to a standstill on the highway even as most parts of the Jammu region continued to be under curfew for the fourth day Tuesday. Army and police personnel were deployed to guard stranded trucks. "There is no fixed formula to deal with such a situation. It has to be handled with care and this time we don't want any escalation in the tension," a police officer told IANS on condition of anonymity. The issue of the land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and its subsequent revocation has polarised Muslim and Hindus of the state. At least 14 people have been killed in both the regions, the Kashmir Valley and Jammu, of the state since May 26 when the government first ordered diversion of the land to the SASB. The order was later revoked July 1 following 10-day long violent protests in the Muslim-dominated valley in June. Posted by: john frum 2008-08-05 |
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