The protesters have called the police action “intimidatory” tactics to quell brewing anger against the hydel power projects over various issues.

Kishtwar SSP Javid Iqbal said the medical superintendent had accused the protesters of obstructing doctors from attending to the people injured in the accident and damaging hospital property. The ambulance driver has alleged that two people assaulted him.

While no one has been arrested, police have so far questioned 50-60 people and are trying to zero in on those who ransacked hospital property and assaulted the driver, the SSP said.

On December 4, a vehicle carrying workers of the Pakal Dul power plant had fallen into a gorge at Dangduru in Kishtwar district, killing two and leaving over a dozen injured. The other workers rushed the victims to the hospital themselves, after allegedly a delay in police and ambulance reaching the spot. What further angered them was that no official from the company building the power plant came to the hospital.

Soon, the protesters were raising slogans against the Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner, local BJP MLA Sunil Sharma, and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha. And later, over the alleged non-availability of specialist doctors and inadequate medical facilities at the hospital. Former PDP MLA Firdous Tak joined the protests.

People said there was pent-up anger already as last month, a roller operator had died after getting run over by a tanker at the site of the same hydel power project. The protesters led by Kishtwar District Development Council (DDC) Chairperson Pooja Thakur had then held a night-long sit-in outside the Kishtwar Police Station, demanding adequate compensation for the family of the deceased, including his wife and five daughters.

After that agitation, Kishtwar’s Assistant Commissioner, Revenue, along with representatives of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited (CVPPL) had visited the protesters and agreed to pay Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased in writing, apart from his insurance claim, besides the deceased’s salary to his widow till the company is working on the project.

Tak said that people were angry at the power project company for non-adherence to environment, safety and worker welfare norms. “Anybody who speaks or dares challenge their monopoly is silenced by the administration,’’ he alleged.

Tak gave the example of the Kishtwar district magistrate slapping the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against five trade union leaders last month. Tak said they faced action for simply seeking employment for locals.

However, the Kishtwar district administration says those detained under the PSA had “anti-national” and “anti-social records”, and had made no effort to make amends. “There was apprehension of threat to public order and the security of the state from them,” said an official.

In the latest case, the FIR was slapped against the protesters two days after their agitation at the hospital. Tak said it followed BJP MLA Sharma’s attack on them at a rally organised by an outfit called the Kishtwar Sanatan Dharma Sabha, against “atrocities on Hindus” in Bangladesh.

Speaking at the rally, Sharma alleged an agenda in the protests, and asked what the protesters at the hospital wanted. “Situation ko communalise karna chahtey ho? Ek vishesh dharam ka, chahey woh officer ho, vidayak ho, LG ho, usko target bana rahey ho. Takleef kya hai tumko, yeh bataiye. Accident ki aarh mein, sampradayikta failana bund keejiye (Do you want to communalise the situation? You are targeting people of a particular religion, whether an officer, MLA, or LG. What is your problem, tell me. Stop using an accident to spread communalism),” Sharma said.

The BJP MLA added: “If we can come to the support of Hindus in Bangladesh and oppose atrocities against them, then protecting (Hindus) here is also our responsibility. And we know how to do it.”

Referring to the earlier protest over the death of a roller operator in November, Sharma equated both to the situation “created” before the 2013 communal riots in Kishtwar, in which both Hindus and Muslims were killed and nearly 80 injured.

Tak said: “The criminal proceedings (by police) are a collective punishment to Kishtwar society as a whole for standing up and speaking against injustice.”

Pooja Thakur, the Kishtwar DDC head and National Conference leader, said the Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner had handed over the same concession to the deceased of the December 4 accident as the November one. She demanded that adequate compensation be given to the injured as well.

Work is in on at five hydel power projects in Kishtwar district, all on the Chenab river, including the 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Pakal Dul project, the 930 MW Kirthai II plant, the 850 MW Ratle project, and the 624 MW each projects at Kiru and Kwar.

Though governments at both the Centre and in J&K have been talking of employment avenues for local youths in these projects, as per residents, they are not being engaged even for unskilled jobs.