Kashmiris protest against arrest of students

Hundreds of people staged a protest against security forces here on Thursday for arresting three students and a woman in the Kashmir Valley.

Srinagar, Aug 9 : Hundreds of people staged a protest against security forces here on Thursday for arresting three students and a woman in the Kashmir Valley.

They said officials of the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir police conducted nocturnal raids on Wednesday night in Malura locality, on the outskirts of Srinagar, and arrested three youth and a woman.

The protestors accused police of deliberately picking up the students.

"They are arresting youngsters who are students... we don't even know where 3-4 students are, where they have kept them. And today, they arrested a young girl... there are others who are heart patients. They are meting out grave injustices to our people, and these poor youngsters are only students," said Yakub Khan, a protestor.

"They are forcing us to pick up guns and retaliate. They keep incriminating evidence in the rooms of these students, and then arrest them calling them militants... We just want these young students to be released immediately," Khan added.

As the protests turned restive, police used force and fired teargas canisters to disperse them.

There have been several allegations of staged killings against security forces in the state. Eight policemen were arrested late last year, accused of killing five people on the outskirts of the capital and passing them off as militants.

ANI