A Class IV student from the old city area of Srinagar is battling grievous burn injuries in his face for the past three days at a local hospital.
The family of the boy is blaming the police for his condition. However, the men in uniform have refuted the allegations.
The family though said the boy was hit by a tear smoke shell fired by the police during clashes on Sunday.
Aamir Bilal Ahnager, 10, is admitted in ward 8 of the emergency section at the SMHS (Shri Maharaja Hari Singh) Hospital. Doctors treating him said though the nature of burn injuries was serious, the boy’s eyes were safe.
The family members said Aamir was dropped by some unknown persons in the hospital. However, the car in which the boy was taken to the hospital has been seized by the police.
Aamir reportedly had gone out to fetch milk from a nearby shop when he was hit by a shell.
“It was only after Aamir was admitted in the hospital on Sunday evening with burn injuries and a broken arm that somebody informed his father his son had been injured,” said Arshad Ahmad, Aamir’s uncle.
Ahmad said doctors at SHMS today dressed up Aamir’s face, saying that his eyes have been saved.
Aamir’s father, Bilal Ahmad, runs an auto-riskshaw and is currently putting up in the Bohrikadal area of the old city, the place where the boy is believed to have sustained the injuries.
Arshad Ahmad, meanwhile, said policemen from the Karan Nagar and Mahraj Gunj police stations had visited the family in the hospital for questioning.
He further said the policemen revealed that they had seized the car in which the boy was brought to the hospital. The police are now searching for the boys who had admitted Aamir in the hospital, claimed Ahmad.
The police, meanwhile, denied that the boy was injured in the shelling. “There was no stone throwing in our area on Sunday. I have no knowledge about the incident,” said Station House Officer (SHO), Nowhatta, Mudassir Ahmad, when asked if Aamir had been injured in his area.
The officials at the Safakadal and Mahraj Gung police stations also denied the incident. They said they had no role in the injuries sustained by the boy.
“On Friday and Sunday, there were stone throwing incidents in my area. But I have no knowledge of a boy getting injured in the shelling,” said SHO, Safakadal, Manzoor Ahmad.
“There is a possibility of someone getting injured during shelling, but I have no knowledge about this particular boy,” he said.
