Legal action taken against Stone Pelters : Police

The J&K Police today said “legal action” has been taken against stone-throwers who had the intentions to disrupt an anti-militancy operation launched by security forces in a Pulwama village in south Kashmir on Saturday.
The action comes in the wake of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s warning to those supporting militants in Kashmir and those trying to disrupt anti-militancy operations by creating trouble. The police along with the Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF had launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) at Urvan, Pulwama, on Saturday.
The police said the search was conducted without any difficulty and after completing the search, the CASO ended.
“At the time of withdrawal, minor stone-throwing took place which was handled with due care by law and order components as per the the standard operation procedure. After warning, a couple of smoke shells were used to disperse the miscreants and no injury to anyone has been reported. Legal action has been taken against the stone-throwers who had every intention to disrupt the operation,” a police spokesman said.
There have been many incidents of protests and stone-throwing by protesters against the security forces during the cordon and search operations to flush out militants. The security sources said more than 85 per cent of the anti-militancy operations this year have faced law and order situations. They said the stone-throwing had resulted in the escape of many militants.
The trend has picked up following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani along with his two associates in an encounter with the security forces in south Kashmir on July 8 last year.
The stone-throwing was also reported from the areas of three encounters in Kulgam and Bandipora between February 11 and 13, during which six Army personnel, including a Major and five soldiers, lost their lives. The deaths prompted the Army Chief to send a warning to those trying to disrupt the anti-militancy operation, which has come under severe criticism of the mainstream parties and the separatists in Kashmir.
A day after the Army Chief’s warning, the government had advised the public to stay away from counter-insurgency operation sites for their own safety. The district administrations of Srinagar, Budgam and Shopian advised the people not to move towards or assemble near the places of cordon and search operations and the sites of encounters between militants and the security forces.