HT photojournalist among four scribes hit by pellets in Valley

Four photojournalists, including Hindustan Times’s Waseem Andrabi, were on Tuesday hit by pellets while on duty in Shopian, where protests broke out following a security operation in which three militants were killed.

Four photojournalists, including Hindustan Times’s Waseem Andrabi, were on Tuesday hit by pellets while on duty in Shopian, where protests broke out following a security operation in which three militants were killed.

“We asked youths not to pelt stones as we needed to cross the road. The youth stopped the stone pelting and gave way to us,” said Waseem Andrabi, adding that it was while crossing the road when they were shot at by security forces.

The others injured were Nasir ul Haq of Rising Kashmir, Junaid Gulzar of Kashmir Essence and Mir Burhan of ANI.

“I was covering the encounter when clashes broke out… We asked youths not to pelt stones as we needed to cross the road. The youth stopped the stone pelting and gave way to us,” said Andrabi, adding that it was while crossing the road when they were shot at by security forces.

“I waved my camera towards the forces to indicate that we are journalists on professional duty. As we reached the middle of the road, the forces shot pellets at us,” he added.

A senior police official said the firing was by mistake. “It was an accident. It was a difficult operation due to the terrain and there were clashes in the area which was handled by the security forces in a professional manner,” said inspector general of police SP Pani.

A spokesperson for the Central Reserve Police Force said that they did not fire the pellets.

“We use tear smoke not plastic pellets. The forces never direct their pellets to anybody not related to the clash. If somebody has been hit it might be out of accident,” he said.

Several journalist bodies and political parties, including the People’s Democratic Party and the Congress, condemned what they said was an “assault” on journalists.

Former minister and senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar in a statement said photojournalists are usually on the opposite side of crowds when they cover protests, and that them being shot indicates that pellet guns are used indiscriminately.

State president of Congress GA Mir said the “assault on photojournalists is unacceptable and deplorable and amounts to curbing the freedom of press”.