Violence broke out in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Tuesday after locals assaulted a soldier suspecting him to be involved in a braid chopping incident, the Greater Kashmir reported.

A video of the incident shows police and Army personnel rescuing the soldier from the angry mob. The soldier was critically injured and is undergoing treatment in Srinagar, the Kashmir Monitor reported.

Clashes broke out between the protestors and the security forces soon after. The police resorted to using teargas shells to counter the protestors who pelted them with stones, the Greater Kashmir reported.

Several women and girls in Jammu and Kashmir have told the police that unknown persons cut their hair after using some spray to make them unconscious. The state administration has been under pressure to solve the cases of braid chopping in the state, as separatists allege security forces were behind these incidents. The Valley reported its first braid chopping in September, a month after Jammu had reported several similar incidents.

There have been 100 reports of alleged braid chopping from Kashmir so far, police said, adding that none of the victims have submitted their hair samples to the police, the Greater Kashmir reported. More than 190 reports have emerged from the Jammu division. Similar complaints were filed in other North Indian states in August.

Earlier in October, the Jammu and Kashmir Police offered Rs 6 lakh for information on the braid chopping incidents. The state police had formed special investigation teams in every district of the Valley to investigate the incidents.