By IANS
Srinagar : Bandipora town in north Kashmir Wednesday witnessed protests and a shutdown against alleged molestation of a local girl by two soldiers of the 57 Rashtriya Rifles counter-insurgency force.
Hundreds of angry protesters shouted slogans against the army in Bandipora, 54 km from here, as the protest continued for the second day after locals paraded the offenders naked and with their heads shaven.
They said the duo was caught while attempting to rape a girl in Kunan village on the outskirts of Bandipora town late Tuesday.
The soldiers are currently lodged in the Bandipora police station.
Ten civilians and five policemen were rounded up when police intervened to take the two soldiers into custody.
"These two soldiers were on routine patrol duties in Kunan when the civilians took them hostage. Anyway, we have initiated our investigations into the matter," said Brigadier V. Garg, commander of the army's 81 Mountain Brigade under whose command the Rashtriya Rifles operates in Bandipora district.
The protesters, however, alleged that the soldiers could not have been on patrol duty as they were unarmed and were caught from a house in the village.
The district administration has assured the people that appropriate action would be taken against the soldiers after investigations.