At least five persons were injured in fresh clashes between youths and police following an attempt by activists of a women separatist organisation to take out a march in defiance of curfew orders in Srinagar, officials said.
Activists of Dukhtaran-e-Millat led by their chief Syeda Asiya Andrabi assembled at Mughal Mohalla locality of Chattabal on Thursday afternoon and started a march towards Pather Masjid in old city in response to a call given by hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference, officials said.
As the burqa-clad women activists were moving ahead, hundreds of youth joined them. However, police and paramilitary forces stopped the protestors at Chattabal bridge leading to clashes between the two sides, the officials said.
Police and paramilitary forces fired teargas shells and used batons to disperse the protestors, they said, adding five persons, including a cameraperson of a local news channel, were injured.
Reinforcements were rushed to the area to maintain law and order. Despite stringent curfew restrictions imposed by the authorities, additional police and paramilitary forces including women police have been deployed around Pather Masjid located in Dalal Mohalla to prevent women from reaching there.
Barbed wire and armoured vehicles were placed around the masjid and the forces deployed there asked to intensfy patrolling, police said. Meanwhile, life continued to remained disrupted in Srinagar and other parts of the valley due to the curfew restrictions, imposed in seven police station areas on June 28, with government offices, banks and educational institutions remaining closed and transport services being off the road.
On the other hand, the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims comprising 1,272 people proceeded to the 3,880-m cave shrine through the traditional Pahalgam and the shorter Baltal routes this morning, officials said.
The pilgrims had reached the twin base camps of Nunwan and Baltal from Jammu last evening. Additional security forces have been deployed on both the routes to ensure safety of the pilgrims.
