4,799 stone pelting incidents in J-K in 2015-17; 19 killed

Altogether 4,799 stone pelting incidents were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in last three years in which 17 protesters and two security personnel were killed, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said there were 730 stone pelting incidents in 2015, 2,808 such incidents in 2016 and 1,261 stone pelting incidents in 2017.
During the last three years, 17 protesters and two security personnel were killed in these incidents, he said replying to a written question.
Ahir said the central government had constituted an expert committee on July 26, 2016 to explore possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons.

The recommendations of the committee were taken into account by the government for appropriate implementation and accordingly, various measures such as using PAVA-Chilli (shells and grenades), STUN-LAC (shells and grenades) and tear smoke shells were used to disperse the unlawful violent protesters before the use of pellet guns, he said.