SRINAGAR: Residents of Saidpora Sopore, where a two-day long gunbattle killed six militants and wounded at least two army men, have accused the security forces of “deliberately destroying” their belongings and apple orchards.
However, police has denied the allegations.
The affected families in the north Kashmir village alleged that 13 kanals of orchard area were damaged and around 100 fruit tress were uprooted by forces using earth excavation machines, a local agency KNS reported.
Ghulam Mohammad Dar and his nephew Khursheed Ahmad Dar blamed the forces of acting “recklessly” during the operation, KNS wrote.
“Earnings of our whole life were burnt down to ashes by troops,” the duo alleged. “Our joint orchard measuring 13 kanals having around 100 fruit trees were uprooted by using JCB machine by security forces.”
Khursheed also alleged that his residential house and cow shed were set on fire.
Meanwhile, Sub Divisional Magistrate Sopore Dr. Sayeed Hanief Balkhi, while admitting the uprooting of fruit trees of victims, said, “Two residential houses, two cowsheds have been damaged while uprooting of fruit tress in an orchard measuring 13 kanals have also been witnessed.
I along with agriculture and revenue officers visited the area. We found cut down trees in the joint orchards”.
However, Superintendent of Police (SP)Sopore, Imtiyaz Hussain denied that trees were cut in any orchard. “It is possible that some trees might have received minor damage as some Casper vehicles had to run through these orchards”, he said.
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