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Miscreants pelted stones to cause 'widespread unrest' on Aug 9, forces didn't fire: MHA

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Press Trust of India New Delhi

The Home Ministry said on Tuesday that "miscreants" resorted to unprovoked stone-pelting against security personnel deployed at a Srinagar outskirts on August 9 to cause "widespread unrest", but no bullet was fired against the protesters.

The incident took place at Soura in Srinagar amidst a government-imposed restrictions on communications and movement of people, following abrogation of special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Stories in media on a said incident in Soura region of #Srinagar. On 09/08, miscreants mingled with people returning home after prayers at a local mosque. They resorted to unprovoked stone pelting against law enforcement forces to cause widespread unrest (sic)," a home ministry spokesperson said in one of a series of tweets.

 

The law-enforcement authorities showed restraint and tried to maintain law and order, she said.

"It is reiterated that no bullets have been fired in #JammuAndKashmir since the development related to #Article370," the spokesperson said.

On August 10, the ministry had said that there had been a few stray protests in the Kashmir Valley in the past few days against the scrapping of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people.

The security clampdown has been imposed since August 5 when the Union government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated it into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Meanwhile, a top government official on Tuesday said the curbs on people's movement and communications are being eased out in a phased manner.

The official also asserted that the restrictions will only be removed after an assessment by local authorities.

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First Published: Aug 13 2019 | 9:10 PM IST

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