Jammu: Protesters attack Congress leader

JAMMU: Senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Mangat Ram Sharma had a narrow escape when angry protesters attacked him after curfew in Jammu was relaxed for 12 hours on Thursday.

Sharma was on his way to a doctor's house in Bhagwati Nagar here when a group of youth pelted his car with stones. Security guards were unable to bring him out of the vehicle. Sharma was saved by a guard who rode him to safety on his motorcycle.

News of the Congress leader's presence brought more people who damaged cars parked in the area and set some vehicles afire.

Sharma was health and medical education minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad government, which had, on July 1, cancelled the allotment of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. The cancellation had triggered violent protests in the region.

Meanwhile, protesters attacked the police station and torched vehicles in Jammu district���s Bhagwati Nagar. ( Watch )
Police fired teargas to quell the agitation by the protesters.

In Delhi, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan briefed the Cabinet on the situation in J&K.

Earlier in the day, curfew was lifted in Jammu and Udhampur districts, while it was relaxed for varying periods in other areas of Jammu province.

Curfew, which was reimposed in Jammu on Wednesday on the third and final day of ' Jail Bharo Andolan ' of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SASS) was lifted for the day from 5 am to 8 pm on Thursday, official sources said.

Day curfew was also lifted in Udhampur district from 5 am to 10 pm, they said.

In Kishtwar town, the authorities gave three-hours curfew relaxation from 9:30 am on Thursday, the sources said adding that it was also relaxed on Wednesday for three hours initially and later extended in phases to 12 hours.