Srinagar: Army soldiers resorted to aerial firing in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on Saturday after people pelted stones on them when they tried to cordon off a hamlet.
Reports said when soldiers of 55 Rashtriya Rifles were busy in sealing Masjid Mohalla in Naira village, scores of people staged a massive protest against them and pelted stones on them.
In order to disperse the protesters, the soldiers fired several shots in air which created panic in the area. The aerial firing continued for several minutes while people ran for cover. Even after aerial firing, the protestors regrouped themselves and continued to pelt stones on Army, a local news agency CNS quoted eyewitnesses as saying.
Soon after the incident, Army sought reinforcement, and despite facing resistance from people they cordoned off the area. “Eyewitnesses said that Army did not find anything and the cordon was lifted after thorough search operation,” the news agency said.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Shopian for the second day on Saturday to mourn the killing of two Hizbul Mujahideen militants. All shops and business establishments remained closed while transport was off the roads.
Reports said hundreds of people visited the residences of the militants who were killed in an encounter with government forces on Friday.

  Shutdown

Reader correspondent