Over 50 youths, mostly with eye injuries, sustained in pellet shots fired by security forces on protesters were admitted to Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital on Sunday.
The youths in blindfolds were brought in ambulances from as far away as Shopian (60 km) and Kulgam (70 km).
“We admitted 42 injured till Sunday afternoon. Forty cases were of pellet injuries, mainly in eyes. In one case, the civilian was hit by bullets and another was hit by a tearsmoke shell,” SMHS medical superintendent Dr. Saleem Tak told The Hindu .
With eyes under thick cloth, an injured protester yelled, “It’s dark. I can’t see. I was hit by pellets as I joined the protests in Shopian.”
“I performed 28 eye surgeries on Sunday. All cases were bad with perforations due to pellets. Many are at the risk of losing their sight,” Dr. Ejaz Akbar, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, SMHS, told The Hindu .
Security forces used tearsmoke shells, bullets and shotguns to control protesters in parts of Shopian and Kulgam district, which saw three major encounters on Sunday, leaving 11 militants and two civilians dead.
The government’s medical facilities and district hospitals in Shopian and Kulgam treated over 50 injured protesters, said an official.
Over 50 were admitted to SMHS and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), in Srinagar.
SKIMS Medical Superintendent Dr. Farooq Ahmad Jan said his hospital received eight persons injured by pellet shots. “Three were operated on,” said Dr. Jan.
