Suhail A Shah
Kulgam
Eleven people including two children sustained injuries on Wednesday evening, during sectarian clashes in the Redwani Ghat area of the Kulgam district. The situation is under control however the section 144 remains enforced with heavy deployment of government forces.
The dispute started between the two groups, going on since a long time now.
“There was a dispute over a piece of land between the two groups and there had been altercations in the past over the excessive use of loudspeakers in the local mosque, by one of the groups,” reports said.
They said that things took a turn for the worse when one of the groups installed new loudspeakers in the area and the other group objected to it.
“They objected saying that one of their families had a patient at home who gets disturbed by the continuous blaring of the loudspeakers,” one of the locals said.
However things got out of hand when the two groups started manhandling each other and soon there were widespread clashes along the whole area.
“During the clashes eleven people sustained injuries, including two kids. A couple of people were injured seriously and are undergoing treatment” said a local.
The police have imposed section 144 in the area after cordoning it off, “We were very quick to intervene otherwise the things could have been much worse,” said Deputy SP Headquarters, Kulgam, Shabir Ahmad.
He said that 12 persons have been arrested during the police action, “Several cases have been registered into the incident and investigations are going on,”
Terming the situation under control the SP Kulgam Muhammad Shafi said, “Right now things are very much in control. There is no curfew in the area; however section 144 still remains enforced”.
However, a police spokes person in Srinagar confirmed only five persons were injured in clashes who were evacuated to the hospital and subsequently discharged after given first aid.
