Srinagar, Mar 9: Around 85 civilians were reportedly injured on Saturday when police used force on protesters in old town Baramulla. Doctors said most of the injured received pellet injuries.
People were protesting in the area against the arrest of several youth during the past few days.
According to Chief Medical Officer Baramulla, Dr Abdur Rashid, Government Dispensary Sheeri received 85 injured persons in the age group of 25 to 60 years today.
“Our dispensary has treated all the injured. Most of them had their body riddled with pellets. Some of them had pellet injuries in sensitive parts including eyes, face and head,” said an official at the dispensary.
He said the injured came to the dispensary as police had blocked all the bridges connecting old Baramulla with main town. Ambulances and paramedics were stopped from reaching the spot, he said.
“The police had blocked all the bridges connecting the old town with others areas. It was difficult for us to shift the injured to other hospitals,” said a paramedic at the Dispensary. “There are certain sensitive areas in the body like head, face, chest, neck, eyes where pellets can cause serious damage. But fortunately, none had serious damage except some unpleasant marks on the body,” he said.
According to doctors, pellets can easily traverse thin bones of children. “If unnoticed, these apparently trivial injuries may have catastrophic consequences,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 9 Mar 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 9 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:00:00 IST