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14 held for trying to immolate mentally-challenged person in Kashmir

Last Updated 21 October 2017, 11:59 IST

 A day after anti-braid chopping vigilantes tried to immolate a ‘mentally-challenged’ person in north Kashmir's Sopore area, the police on Saturday arrested at least 14 people.

A source said that the suspects, identified from a video of the attack posted on social media, were arrested during a raid on Friday night in Mazbug area of Sopore, 52 km from here.

In neighbouring Baramulla district, the police said that 45 people have been arrested for their role in instigating violence over braid-chopping incidents.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Baramulla) Imtiyaz Hussain said that most of those arrested were involved in last year’s uprising triggered by the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

There is a sense of insecurity among the people over braid-chopping, as, in the last few weeks, more than 100 incidents have been reported across Kashmir.

The police have formed special investigation teams (SITs) to crack the cases, but so far they have failed in making any arrests.

Following the incidents, vigilante groups have been formed by people to catch the attackers.

They are usually armed with axes, sickles, wooden boards and cricket bats.
Moving around in the night has become risky as vigilante groups dominate the streets.
In several instances, innocent people and even security personnel have been thrashed on suspicion. Recently, in Srinagar, some tourists were also beaten up.

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(Published 21 October 2017, 11:59 IST)

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