SRINAGAR: The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar on Wednesday asserted that stone-pelting incidents won’t be tolerated. “I want to tell it openly that we are not going to tolerate stone-pelting incidents,” IGP said while addressing a press conference.
Kumar was referring to the stone-pelting incident at the Nowhatta area near historic Jamia Masjid on last Friday.
On Friday, a group of youth had staged a protest in Jamia Masjid market at Nowhatta against the continued house detention of Hurriyat leader and cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. They later clashed with the policemen by pelting stones at them. The policemen had also retaliated.
Kumar said that the police immediately lodged an FIR into the incident and 15 youngsters, who were identified through videos, have been arrested.
“A dozen of them will be booked under the stringent Public Safety Act,” he said.
The IGP said some youth, whose faces are not clear in the videos, are being identified and they too will be arrested.
“A total of 39 persons have been arrested so far,” he said.
The incident at Nowhatta was the first such in Srinagar since 2020.