Kashmir students clash with forces in Handwara, Pulwama

Clashes broke out on Saturday between protesting students and security forces in Handwara town in north and Pulwama in south Kashmir, the police said. Several students have been injured in the clashes which were going on till last reports came in.

Dozens of students from the government higher secondary school in Newa area of Pulwama district staged a protest against the alleged high-handedness of security forces, a police official said. He said the that students were asked by security forces to disperse but they refused, leading to clashes.

The students pelted stones at security forces, who resorted to baton charge and tear smoke shelling, the official said, adding that clashes were going on till the reports last came in. Similar protests took place in Handwara town of Kupwara district where students of the government degree college clashes with security forces, the official said. He said that the students indulged in stone pelting, prompting the law enforcing agencies to use force. A police raid on government degree college Pulwama on April 15 had triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17.

The protests have been going on intermittently since then, prompting authorities to suspend class work in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure. The students are agitating over the alleged high- handedness of police and are demanding action against the erring personnel for roughing up students. A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.

Meanwhile, the body of a 30-year-old woman was recovered from a canal in in Kangan area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, prompting protests from local residents who alleged that she has been murdered. The body of Shazia Bano, a resident of Prang area, was recovered by police from the canal at Wayil in Kangan area, 40 kms from here, a police official said.

Local residents blocked the Ganderbal-Sonamarg road to protest against alleged killing of the woman, he said adding that they demanded the arrest of the culprits. The police have taken cognisance of the matter and started investigations, the official said.