A number of upmarket areas in the heart of Srinagar city virtually turned into a battleground yesterday as students clashed with police, on a day colleges reopened in Kashmir after a five-day shutdown ordered by the government
Students clash with security forces in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. Pic/AFP
A number of upmarket areas in the heart of Srinagar city virtually turned into a battleground yesterday as students clashed with police, on a day colleges reopened in Kashmir after a five-day shutdown ordered by the government.
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The police had to fire dozens of tear smoke shells in an attempt to disperse the stone-pelting students from SP College and the adjoining Women's College on MA Road, officials said.
They said the clashes emanated from SP College and soon spread to the streets of Regal Chowk and adjoining areas. The students from the Women's College also joined the protests, which spread to other parts of the commercial hub, the officials said.
The police also fired a couple of aerial shots, but it was not clear whether live ammunition or rubber bullets were used.
The clashes led to closure of the markets and people rushed to safer locations out of the commercial hub.
The authorities had shut the higher educational institutions as a precautionary measure in the wake of widespread violence by students in Kashmir on April 17 against the alleged high-handedness of security forces with students in Pulwama on April 15.
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