Mobs resort to extortion in Valley

The ongoing unrest in Kashmir is turning uglier as unruly mobs have reportedly started resorting to extortion.

From the Srinagar-Jammu national highway to other main and link roads, reports of extortions are pouring in, with people  saying stone-pelters are threatening to damage their vehicles if they don’t give money.

A non-local driver said his truck was stopped on the Teng Pora highway in south Srinagar by members of a mob, who asked him to pay Rs 200 as toll tax. “When I asked for an explanation, they threatened to torch my truck,” said the driver,   who handed over the money.

A man driving out of SKIMS Hospital in Soura said he was waylaid by protesters, who asked him to pay Rs 100 towards a relief fund for those injured in the protests. “My car was stopped by some 15-20 masked youth in the middle of the road. They asked me to pay up or be prepared to see the car’s windscreen being shattered,” the driver claimed. He said the protesters told him that “people are dying and you are not willing to pay money for relief”.

On a link road near the Hyderpora highway, children aged 8-10 years were seen stopping vehicles and threatening the passengers of stone pelting.

There has been a breakdown of law and order in the Valley since the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8. While 43 people, including two policemen, were killed, over 3,000 were wounded in the street protests.

Unlike the 2010 unrest, this time the protesters are unwilling to adhere to the protest calendar issued by the separatist camps. On July 27, the Hurriyat Conference issued a call for relaxation of the strike, but hundreds of people took to the streets, forcing shops to down their shutters. The protesters said they would decide the “future course of action and that Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have no business to lead them”.