J&K firing: Curfew lifted in Ramban, protests in Banihal

Curfew was lifted in Ramban district even as fresh protests broke out in Banihal belt against the firing by BSF personnel.

Jammu: Curfew was on Saturday lifted in Ramban district even as fresh protests broke out in Banihal belt against the firing by BSF personnel with agitators blocking the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

"The situation is under control, peaceful and normal and there have been no untoward reports from anywhere today", a police spokesman said here. The authorities are monitoring the situation round-the-clock and additional forces have been deployed in sensitive areas of the Jammu region, he said. Curfew has been lifted in Ramban district as the two-day curfew period expired last night and no fresh curfew orders were passed, officials said. The Gool, Dharam and Sanglandan area of Ramban district, which have been epicentre of protests, have returned to normalcy. There is no tension, they said. However, there have been fresh protests in Banihal belt of Ramban district where some people have assembled on the highway and are sitting on a dharna demanding the arrest of the people involved in Thursday`s firing incident in Gool. Additional police force has been deployed in the area to ensure that there are no violent protests. On July 18, four persons were killed and 42 suffered injuries in the firing when a mob attacked a BSF camp in Dharam area of Ramban district to protest against alleged high-handedness by a BSF team. Protests against the killing erupted across Jammu and Kashmir on Friday during which 16 people, including two policemen, were injured in clashes, stone-pelting and cane-charge in Jammu region`s Doda district. PTI