KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
15-year-old Ahsfaq Majeed was searching for his father in Handwara market when a bullet hit his right leg and he felt down writhing in pain.
Ashfaq, a Class 9 student of Government High School Handwara, had just reached home after attending school when the mayhem in Handwara town began.
“I had not taken off my school uniform and only had put down my rucksack in my house in Galoora Langate when I heard about the firing in Handwara market. I immediately left my home to see whether my father is safe,” Ashfaq said at Bones and Joints Hospital Srinagar where doctors have operated his right leg for bullet injury.
Ahsfaq’s father, Abdul Majeed Malik sells tea outside the court complex in Handwara town and is assisted by his son there. Ahsfaq is the eldest of the five sons of Malik.
“When I reached near the father’s tea shop in the market, army fired indiscriminately from inside the concrete bunker at the Handwara town. When the bullet hit me, I cried of pain and felt unconscious,” said the injured boy.
His father said that he and his elder son, who assists him at the tee-shop, were running for safety from the “indiscriminate” firing.
“I was difficult to get sense of what was happening in town as only bullets and tear gas shells were indiscriminately fired by the police and forces. It was mayhem and horror,” Malik said.
“After half an hour, I heard that my son, Ashfaq, was hit by a bullet and was rushed to sub-district hospital in Handwara from where doctors referred him here,” Malik said at B&J Hospital.
Doctors treating Ashfaq said that he is stable and will recover after some time from the injury.
Shabir Ahmad, 27-year-old youth, was buying medicine for his one-year-old nephew who was admitted in sub-district hospital in Handwara for chest infection.
“I was about to take the medicine from the chemist but suddenly I felt pain in my left leg and felt down. A teargas shell hit my left ankle,” Ahmad said.
He said that the hospital in Handwara is about 200 meters away from the town where the youths were killed and the protests were taking place.
Another injured, Rayees Ahmad, who was admitted in SMHS hospital was shifted to SKIMS today forenoon.
Doctors in the SMHS said that Ahmad had received “bullet injuries in his chest” and he was shifted to SKIMS.
Two youth, Mohammad Iqbal and Nayeem Qadir Bhat, and an elderly woman, Raja Begum were killed in Handwara on Tuesday following protests by people against the alleged molestation bid of a girl by an army man.
Authorities clamped curfew in the town and adjacent areas today to thwart protests by people. However, the situation continues to be tense as one more youth, Jahangir Ahmad Wani of Nagri Drugmulla, was killed by forces during protests today. (KNS)
