12 youth arrested for pelting stones on patrolling party

Pulwama: Even as the government claimed to have taken steps to give amnesty to the stone pelters, the authorities in the intervening night of Mar 21-22 arrested twelve youth from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, reports said.

According to witnesses, over one dozen youth were arrested on charges of stone pelting on a patrolling party of Army, when they were passing through the village on Wednesday.

They added that forces raided many houses in the village at around 11pm and arrested over one dozen youth.

Following the arrests, residents of Arihal village blocked the Pulwama-Shopian highway on Thursday to protest against the arrest of youth.

The locals blocked Pulwama-Shopian highway near Khamri junction to demand immediate release of youth. The protests resulted in traffic mess in the area.

A senior police official said that around 12 youth were arrested and most of them are involved in stone pelting while some among them may have links with cannabis smugglers.

“The youth had pelted stones on forces in the village when forces were there to chase some cannabis smugglers” the official said.

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