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Over two dozen people injured in clashes after fire in Srinagar Sufi shrine
M Saleem Pandit, TNN | Jun 25, 2012, 04.06PM IST
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Fire in Dastgeer Sahib shrine in Srinagar
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SRINAGAR: Over two dozen people were injured in clashes with police in downtown after a fire broke out in the 200-year-old Muslim shrine 'Peer Dastgeer Sahib' at Khanyar in Srinagar.

The fire which started from the top of the tomb of the shrine due to short circuiting at about 6.30 am on Monday engulfed the whole building. However, the holy relic of the saint, 'taburakts' and written copies of holy Quran were safe in the custody of Syed Khalid Hussain, Sajada Nasheen of Dastageer Sahib Shrine.

The residents of the area blamed the fire service officials for laxity in saving the building. Riyaz Ahmad Bhat of Khanyar said that the fire tenders arrived late at the site and there was also no water stocked in the fire tenders to fight the fire.

Director general of fire and emergency department, Dr G A Bhat denied that there was scarcity of water in the fire tenders. He said people did not allow the firemen to use the water from nearby canal, Barinimbal. On top of that, he said, the agitating mob caused damage to about 22 vehicles of the department and burnt one vehicle. "They also damaged the bronto sky lift which costs Rs six crores," Bhat told the TOI. He said that over 15 firemen were injured in the clashes during the fire fighting.

The DG said that the cause of the fire was being enquired into.

The Sufi shrine of Hazrat Shaikh Abdula Qadir Jeelani, popularly known as Peer Dastgeer Sahib, in Khanyar, downtown Srinagar, is a revered shrine in Kashmir. Soon after the news of the fire spread , people started pelting stones on the passing vehicles in the old city areas which forced the authorities to impose restrictions on the movement of the people. The restrictions on the movement triggered clashes between youth and police.

J&K police and CRPF men used smoke shells and resorted to 'lathi charge' to disperse agitating mobs in the old city areas, police said. Inspector of General of Police Kashmir zone S M Sahai appealed to the people to stay calm and not to pay any heed to rumours.

The clashes left more than two dozen people injured, police said. The state administration held a high level meeting which decided to hold an inquiry into the fire, by divisional commissioner Asgar Samoon.

Chairman of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also the head of Muttaheda Majis-e-Ulema told the ToI that he was not allowed to visit the site by the J&K police.

The Mirwaiz and the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, Mufti Bashiruddin have called for a complete strike on Tuesday to protest against the "government apathy" during the fire.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/14388354.cms