Students clash with security forces in Kashmir’s Budgam district

The police fired dozens of teargas shells and used batons to restore order.

Clashes between students and security forces were witnessed on Wednesday in Budgam district of Kashmir, disrupting normal life, officials said.

Kashmiri students run for cover as they are chased by policemen during a protest in Budgam on Wednesday. (AP Photo)

Students of Government Boys Higher Secondary School boycotted their classes and tried to take out a rally in Budgam town to demand release of students arrested during student agitation over the past fortnight, the officials said.

They said the students indulged in stone-pelting after police tried to stop them from marching on the roads, leading to clashes between the two sides which went on for a couple hours.

No one was injured in the clashes which, however, resulted in disruption in business activities and traffic movement in the town, the officials said.

They said police fired dozens of teargas shells and used batons to restore order.

A police raid on government degree college Pulwama on April 15 had triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 which have been going on intermittently since then.

To check the spiralling violence cycle, authorities even suspended class work in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month.

A number of students have been arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley.