Forest personnel mistaken as braid choppers, thrashed
Sopore: Four forest personnel were ruthlessly thrashed on Monday when a group of people mistook them for braid choppers in Janwara area of Sopore town in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, officials said.
Officials speaking to Kashmir Vision informed that four of its employees were beaten black and blue by the locals while they were performing their duties in the area.
“The four officials of the forest department identified as Bashir Ahmad Trunkroo, Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, Farooq Ahmad Wani, and Azad Ahmad were mistaken as braid choppers in Janwara area on Monday evening and were thrashed by the locals,” an official of the department informed.
He said that the officials had received inputs about the hiding of illegal forest timber in the area therefore they were heading towards the suspected place to seize the illegal timber. “The officials were stopped by the locals and mistaken as braid choppers. They were ruthlessly thrashed,” he said.
He informed that the vehicle they were traveling in was also damaged.
The forest officials said that the injured forest personnel were shifted to SDH Sopore for treatment. “Among them, Senior Forest Guard Bashir Ahmad is critically injured,” they said.
They also said that they have registered a case in this regard. “We have registered a case in this regard at Police Post Warpora Sopore and police has taken cognizance of the incident,” they informed.
KV Correspondent
