Protests rock Kathua and Ramban

Amid shutdown, protesters took to the streets in Kathua and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir and blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway for a few hours.
Protesting against alleged cow slaughter in Phoond belt of Kathua district yesterday and demanding arrest of the culprits, scores of people held protests in several areas including Bani, Basholi, Billawar, Lakhanpur and Hiranagar of the district amid a shutdown.
The shutdown was also observed in Batote and Ramban belts, where protesters blocked road at Batote. "The situation is under control and peaceful. There was no report of any untoward incident," Divisional Commissioner of Jammu Zone Shant Manu said.

Protests were also held this morning in Kud, Patnitop areas of Udhampur district over the issue.
An alleged sacrilegious act by some miscreants yesterday had triggered clashes between two communities in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. A few people were injured in the clash and seven shops were set on fire. The authorities called in Army to control the situation.
The incident of cow slaughter took place in Janu village of Phoond belt of Kathua district, district officials said.

As the news spread like wildfire, people assembled in Phoond belt and set afire some kiosks and damaged some shops, leading to a clash between people belonging to different communities, they said.

People of two communities also assembled in large numbers at Jandarli, a few kilometres away from the place of incident.
Two columns of Army had to be called in for night patrolling in the area to maintain peace. Additional police and CRPF had also been deployed in the area.