Three soldiers were stripped and mercilessly thrashed by a group of people who accused them of being braid choppers in north Kashmir on Wednesday. This is the fourth such attack on soldiers in the past few days.
The accused stopped a private bus near Sheeri village in Baramulla district and asked three unarmed soldiers of the Territorial Army (TA) battalion, who were in plain clothes, to alight. The soldiers were on their way to Baramulla to fix searchlights.
After frisking and checking their identity cards, the soldiers were stripped naked and beaten by the people who claimed that the soldiers were behind the braid chopping incidents in the area.
Police have registered a case and are on the lookout for people responsible for the incident.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Mir Imtiyaz Hussain said they have identified the people behind this incident. “We will get them soon”, he said.
On Tuesday, a mob attacked three soldiers and torched their vehicle at Akhal village in Kangan area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, claiming that the soldiers were the braid choppers. Another soldier was beaten up in Uri.
Violent Clashes broke out in Reddi Chowkibal and Kralpora areas of Kupwara after locals caught hold of a Territorial Army (TA) man and thrashed him brutally. More than five persons were injured when security forces allegedly opened fire to disperse the people who were chasing an alleged braid chopper in Wullerhama village of Salar area in Anantnag district on Wednesday.
Police said the situation in the area is tense but under control.
More than 105 braid chopping cases have been reported from Kashmir alone. Police said the victims and families are not cooperating with the investigators.
Police have decided to take blood samples to find out what kind of spray is being used for making women unconscious.
Alarmed by the braid chopping cases, District Magistrate of Shopian Mohammad Aijaz has constituted a district-level committee to maintain strict vigil and counsel braid chopping victims.
Headed by additional district magistrate, the committee comprises additional superintendent of police, district social welfare officer and a counseling psychologist.
“Counseling psychologist/psychiatrist and counselors from Social Welfare Department are already doing their job of helping the victims to overcome the post-traumatic stress. In order to reach out to the families where such incidents have taken place, an outreach squad has been formed”, said an official spokesman.
