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| Now, unruly mobs resort to extortion in Kashmir | | Vehicles stopped on highway for 'relief' | | ET Report
srinagar, July 29: The ongoing unrest in Kashmir is turning uglier as the unruly mobs have started resorting to extortion.
People driving the Srinagar roads said the stone-pelters stop their vehicles seeking money or threatening them to damage their vehicles. From Srinagar-Jammu highway to other main and link-roads, the reports of extortion are pouring in, from almost everywhere.
A non-local trucker said his truck was stopped on the Teng Pora highway in south Srinagar by mobs who asked him to pay Rs 200 as "toll tax". "When I tried to argue, they simply threatened me of torching my truck," the driver said adding he instantly paid the ransom.
A man driving down the SKIMS Soura hospital road where he had gone to see a patient said he was stopped by protesters who asked him to pay Rs 100 as "relief fund for those injured in the ongoing unrest."
"My car was stopped by some 15-20 masked youth who suddenly appeared on the middle of the road. The moment I applied brakes, some of them rushed to my windscreen asking me to pay money or be prepared to see the windscreen broken to pieces," the driver said.
He said the stone-wielding protesters told him that "people are dying and you are not willing to pay money for relief." The man said in a bid to avoid confrontation with angry youth, he at once took out money from his pocket to meet their demand.
On a link road near Hyder Pora highway, small children of the age of around 8-10 years were seen stopping vehicles and threatening them of stone pelting if they don't pay ransom of Rs 50 - 20. Finally a brave man got down from his car and chased away the extortionist kids.
In most of the cases, the protesters said they were not demanding money for themselves but for those who got wounded in the past days on unrest.
Since July 8, when Hizb Commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani was killed, there has been a breakdown of law and order in Kashmir. While over 50 persons, including three policemen died, over 3000 have been wounded in the street protests.
Unlike the 2010 unrest, the protesters this time are unwilling to adhere even to the protest calendar issued by the separatist camps. On July 27, when the Hurriyat conference issued a call for relaxation in hartal from 2:00 PM, hundreds of youth took to streets asking shopkeepers to pull down their shutters.
The protesting youth have been saying they would themselves decide the "future course of action and that Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Faooq and Yasin Malik have no business to lead. |
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