JK News Today

Jammu , February 7  Minister of state for home Hans Raj Ahir informed  Rajya Sabha in  written reply on Wednesday that there were 4,799 incidents of stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir since 2015 .

He said that 17 protesters and two security personnel were killed in these incidents .

Giving the break up , Ahir said there were 730 stone-throwing incidents in 2015, 2,808 in 2016 and 1,261 in 2017.

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 PAVA-chilli (shells and grenades) and tearsmoke shells were used to disperse the unlawful violent protesters before the use of pellet guns, he said. –