The pellet gun is again in the spotlight as another protester succumbed to injuries on Monday, pushing the death toll in the month-long protests up to 58, even as curfew and security restrictions continue to remain in place across the Valley.
Amir Bashir Lone, 17, a resident of Shopian district, died late on Sunday night after pellets lodged in his head “damaged the brain severely”, according to hospital sources. The deceased was hit by a volley of pellets on August 5 during a demonstration.
Mr. Lone is the third casualty of the non-lethal weapon introduced after the 2010 street uprising to reduce civilian deaths. Doctors who performed surgeries on those hit by pellets in SMHS and SKIMS hospitals in Srinagar told The Hindu that the three civilians died because they were shot from “a very very close range with the intention to kill.”
A pellet victim Riyaz Ahmad Shah, 21, a resident of Srinagar’s Chattabal locality, had his abdomen ripped apart last week. “More than 300 pellets were lodged inside his body, affecting all vital organs. This only shows the gun was emptied by keeping barrel close to the victim’s body,” said a doctor. Another victim, Danish Rasool, a Class 12 student, died “after pellets were fired at the neck from a very close range” in Sopore on August 5.
Figures at the Valley’s premier SMHS hospital paint a grim picture. Of 933 pellet cases, 356 suffered eye injuries and 324 extra-ocular injuries. Similarly, the hospital treated 67 bullet injury cases. Non-lethal tear-smoke shell injuries are less at 35.
In fresh violence on Monday, seven civilians, including four women, were hit by pellets in Anantnag district’s Bijbehara area.
“One victim, Ruby Jan, has pellet injuries in head and face; Tawseef Ahmed in both eyes; Haseena Akhtar in both; Reena Jan in right arm and back; Adil Ahmed in back; Jameela Bano in right eye and Firdous Ahmed in face and leg,” said local hospital sources. Two critically injured have been shifted to a Srinagar hospital.
Nurses stage protest
Meanwhile, nurses and paramedical staff of the SMHS hospital also held a demonstration against use of pellet guns.
Despite curfew in parts of Srinagar and south Kashmir, there were no signs of clashes and protests dying down in the Valley.
There were five incidents of stone-pelting on police deployments in Anantnag, Sopore and Bandipora districts, said a police spokesman.
