Pulwama firing victims may have to live with permanent disabilities

Aamir Ahmad Mir of Ratnipora village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district is struggling to recover from a grievous injury at the SMHS Hospital here.
The 20-year-old has been put on life support system after he received a teargas shell in his abdomen on Sunday.
Doctors treating Amir said he was hit by a teargas shell fired from a “point blank range”. “Aamir’s spleen was ruptured by the teargas shell and we immediately removed it,” said a doctor. “He is stable, but may face digestive problems in future,” added the doctor.
Aamir, however, is not the only victim of the alleged firing by the security forces. There are other patients at SMHS and Bone and Joints Hospital who have been shot from a “point blank range”.
Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Lone, 45, received a bullet in his abdomen. Doctors have removed 15 cm of his intestines and are treating “large perforations” in his stomach and colon. Lone, a father of two, says he was sitting in the precinct of his house at Lelhara village when a bullet fired allegedly by security forces hit him.
Lone’s house at Lelhara is 1.5 km away from Kakpora, where security forces killed a top Lashkar-e-Toiba militant and two youth, including a woman, in a gunfight yesterday.
Lone is a carpenter by profession. He had left his work halfway and went home to ensure the safety of his two children. “However, destiny had something else in store. I received a bullet fired from an Army convoy, which passed by my house,” claimed Lone.
Doctors alleged that security forces were deliberately firing at protesters from a close range to target their vital organs. “All the three victims admitted here have received injuries in abdomen area,” said an SMHS doctor.
Adil Ahmad Dar of Kakpora said he was fired at by the Army personnel without any provocation. Dar received a bullet in his right arm.
A senior official at the Bone and Joints Hospital said Dar might face permanent deformity as the bullet had shuttered a nerve in his forearm.
Following Governor NN Vohra’s directive, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Samoon today visited the firing victims at both the hospitals and enquired about their health. Samoon told the hospital authorities to ensure better healthcare facilities and treatment to the injured persons.