Vehicle set ablaze as stray clashes continues on 103rd Day

Miscreants set ablaze a passenger vehicle on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in north Kashmir today. The incident took place at Delina, about 5 km from Baramulla, this afternoon.
A group of miscreants stopped a Scorpio carrying passengers from Srinagar to Baramulla. They threw a petrol bomb on the vehicle, resulting in heavy damage. No harm was caused to the driver and passengers.
The incident indicated possible frustration among anti-national elements as more and more private vehicles had been plying on the roads in violation of the shutdown call by separatists.
There had been an increase in stone-throwing on private vehicles by masked youths while mobs damaged and smashed windowpanes of vehicles at many places.
Vehicular movement was near normal on inter-district roads after security forces took control of the situation by making major highways and roads free of stone-throwers.
A Scorpio parked on the roadside at Saderbal was damaged in a fire today. The police said the cause of the fire was being ascertained.
Two incidents of clashes between protesters and police personnel were reported from Budgam and Pulwama districts. Clashes took place at Soibugh in Budgam district when the police dispersed a rally called by separatists.
Protesters clashed with police personnel in Arihal village of Pulwama district against raids conducted at night to arrest those involved in incidents of violence and disturbance of public order.
Some masked men entered the branch of J&K Bank at Budshah Nagar in Natipora this afternoon. They damaged the CCTV screen, LED, glass panes and other valuables for violation of the shutdown call.

Ex-minister’s house attacked
Anantnag: Militants attacked the house of former PDP minister Peer Muhammad Hussain in Anantnag district around 12:45 am on Wednesday. There were no report of injury to anybody. Police sources said militants opened fire at policemen guarding the house. “
They fired at the portion of the house where security guards were posted,” said a police official. He said the firing was retaliated by policemen, forcing militants to retreat in haste.
“The militants had apparently come to snatch weapons, but the policemen showed presence of mind,” the official said. Hussain, chairman of the Muslim Waqf Board, and his family were not present at the house in Achabal during the incident.
“Security guards retaliated after militants appeared at the door. I and my family were not present in the house,” Hussain said. Anantnag SSP Zubair Khan denied that any such attack took place, maintaining that the policemen fired several rounds.
“Our men suspected some movement around the house and opened fire as a precautionary measure. There was no attack by militants,” he said.