On Friday, 1st June 2018, in Srinagar near Jamia Masjid, a group of stone-pelters attacked CRPF vehicle after CRPF vehicle run over them.
After Friday prayers at the mosque, the protesters were shouting anti-India slogans encountered with police and encompassing a CRPF vehicle and started throwing stones hard at it.
CRPF PRO Sanjay Sharma said the vehicle was carrying second-in-command of 28 Battalion, SS Yadav.
“They (protesters) came very close, some of them even climbed on the vehicle. The protesters were trying to lynch people inside the vehicle and the driver was trying to get out of the situation,” he said.
He said, “They came very close, some of them even climbed on the vehicle. The protesters were trying to lynch people inside the vehicle and the driver was trying to get out of the situation.
According to Sharma while trying to get out of the situation, somebody “might have come under the vehicle”.
Two youths Yonis Ahmad and Kaiser Ahmad were the victims by the CRPF vehicle. The injured youths were admitted to the hospital where doctors have declared their condition serious.
According to Hindustan Times, Medical superintendent, SKIMS, Farooq Jan said the condition of one was “very critical” and “is on life support”.
On the contrary, Images and a video of the incident have gone viral on social media.
Former state chief minister Omar Abdullah took to Twitter to condemn the incident.
“Earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps & paraded them around villages to deter protestors. Now they just drive their jeeps right over protestors. Is this your new SOP @MehboobaMufti sahiba? Ceasefire means no guns, so use jeeps?” he tweeted along with a picture of youth crushed under CRPF vehicle.
CRPF PRO Sharma said their personnel “didn’t fire a single bullet or a pellet despite the grave situation”.
Last week, after Friday prayers, the police used pellets to quell protesters. Some tear gas shells landed inside the mosque. More than 20 people were injured in the incident.
Later, the Auquaf Committee and Traders Federation of Jamia reached an agreement with the police that there will be no security deployment in the mosque and volunteers will look after the security and discourage stone pelting after prayers.
Nevertheless, despite the agreement, protests took place outside the Jamia Masjid and its neighbouring areas after prayers ended on Friday.
Picture credits: Hindustan Times