On April 3, Times of India reported that tourists in Jammu & Kashmir are facing the wrath of stone pelters. The report states that there has been a spate of attacks on tourists in the state a day after 12 terrorists were killed in an army operation in the state in which four civilians also lost their lives.
According to the article, two buses carrying tourists from Indonesia were pelted with stones near the Dal lake in Srinagar. In another incident, two women from Abu Dhabi were attacked at the Srinagar airport and suffered head injuries due to which they had to be hospitalised. The report mentions that the third incident of attack on tourists took place at Awantipora in the Pulwama district of South Kashmir in which two women from U.P were injured after stone pelters targeted the bus in which they were travelling.
The information put out by Times of India however was rebutted by J&K police through an official statement which is posted below:
Apropos a news item published in The Times of India news paper with byline of Sh Salim Pandith, regarding tourists being injured in stone pelting at Dalgate area of Srinagar city and Awantipora. As per District police authorities Srinagar no such incident of stone pelting took place in that area yesterday as reported by the correspondent. Police investigation have also shown that no injuries to any body were reported from area. However two tourist got minor injuries on April 1.They were given first aid and discharged immediately.There has been no intended or designed attack on any Tourist. It was because the vehicles came in middle an area where pelting was going on. Media fraternity is requested to kindly verify such reports before publishing.
News agency ANI also tweeted a portion of the above press release.
Apropos news item regarding tourists being injured in stone pelting, as per Police no such incident of stone pelting took place. 2 tourist got minor injuries on Apr 1 as vehicles came in area where pelting was going on.There has been no designed attack on any tourist: J&K Police
— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018
The J&K police also retweeted a tweet by Ahmed Ali Fayyaz who is a journalist based in J&K. Fayyaz reported that no such incident had taken place in Srinagar, adding that in Awantipora, a stone had been pelted on a bus and two women from U.P had sustained minor injuries.
Alt News also contacted the Department of Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir which confirmed that no attack had taken place on Indonesian tourists at Dal Lake, adding that it is the safest area for tourists and that no such incident has ever taken place.
Update
After questions were raised over the authenticity of the report, Times of India has reiterated that its stands by the report by its correspondent from J&K. It also published another report which it said was cross-checked and re-verified.
Thank you @OmarAbdullah for having faith in @timesofindia. We stand by our reporter Saleem Pandit’s news report about stone-pelting attacks on tourist vehicles in Kashmir. Here is the cross-checked and re-verified report. Will you please retweet this now? https://t.co/rCiahhptQ1https://t.co/43clOcTS5H
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) April 3, 2018
(The article has been updated by Alt News following the response by Times of India)
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