Several protestors demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into an eight-year-old girl’s rape and murder in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district were injured on Thursday when the police baton-charged them.

One person was said to be in critical condition after he was hit by a bus during the protest, police told PTI. Protestors, however, alleged that the man had come under the vehicle after policemen pushed him.

A large number of police personnel was deployed in Kathua during the protest. The police said they used tear gas and batons to disperse protestors to clear the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Chadwal area. The injured were taken to Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, a police official told PTI.

During the march, Dogra residents alleged mass detention of youngsters from the community and accused the crime branch of harassing the community. Protestors also shouted slogans against Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is part of the ruling alliance led by Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party.

On January 17, the body of a girl belonging to a nomadic tribe was found in Kathua, a week after she was allegedly raped, tortured and killed by unidentified people. Several protests have taken place in Kathua and other towns in recent weeks to demand a CBI investigation of the rape-and-murder case.