8 Year boy among 1300 Youth arrested across Valley during last one month

An 8-year old boy is among over 80 boys arrested by police in Pulwama triggering widespread protests here while forces have allegedly swooped on localities damaging properties and thrashing people.
After the unrest in the Valley following killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, police have launched a crackdown on youth across the Valley especially in South Kashmir.
Police have so far arrested over 80 youth including an 8-year-old boy Basit Manzoor.
Terrified father of Basit couldn’t muster the courage for last two-days to visit the Pulwama police station to meet his son fearing his arrest.
It was Basit’s mother who went to the police station and remains inconsolable after seeing her son being “tortured’’ and ruthlessly beaten up.
SSP, Pulwama, Rayees Ahmad Bhat, said they have arrested boys as they were indulging in stone pelting.
“We have arrested over 80-youth for their involvement in stone pelting,” he said and admitted that some minor boys were also arrested.
Bhat said the parents of the arrested youth can take a legal recourse to ensure release of their wards.
“The parents can move the court. However, we can’t release them as they have been caught while resorting to stone pelting,” he said.
The detention of Basit has triggered an outrage in Prichoo village, which is only few minutes’ drive from the Pulwama town and has remained in the grip of unrest ever since the death of Burhan in an encounter with forces in Kokernag on July 8.
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, Basit’s father, told Kashmir Post that his son was not part of any protest.
“He had been returning home after offering Friday prayers when the police men detained him and thrashed him with the gun butts and batons. We have been told that he won’t be released till August 15,” he said.
Basit is a 5th class student of Muslim Medium Education Trust (MMET) school Pulwama and, according to locals, he was not part of any protests.
Manzoor, who runs a grocery shop at Prichoo, said he was not at home when Basit was arrested. “I have not visited my son as I fear I may be arrested by the cops at the police station”.
“Police have told my wife that he won’t be released upto August 15. We have been told that if any worker of a mainstream party interferes and recommends his release then only police will act. But I do not know any of these political workers so I fear that my son will continue to face detention,” he said.
He said his son Basit was beaten mercilessly by the cops and is now not able to stand up.
“Basit has been tortured. He was picked up when no stone pelting was taking place in the area. We have also heard that many other youth have also been arrested from other places,” said Bilal Ahmad Bhat, Basit’s brother.
The detention of minor has triggered protests in the area and people alleged that after the protests, force personnel swooped on the village and damaged both private and public property.
“Police and CRPF men come every night and barge into the houses. They have vandalized both the public and private property. They even abuse and harass women folk,” said a local resident.
Another local resident, Aaqib Ahmad, said marble sheets worth lakhs of rupees have been damaged by the police and CRPF men in the village. “What has been left is only the broken pieces of marble. The security personnel come every night and damage the property. They even damaged the electricity transformer”.
With shops remaining shut, broken pieces of bricks lay scattered on the roads here making the pedestrian and vehicular movement difficult.  In the Pulwama chowk, police and CRPF men man the deserted roads.  The locals said scores of youth have been arrested by the police.  The day begins with the sermons being played out from the mosques asking people to rise up against the “oppression’’.

Police have arrested at least 1300 youth from various parts of Kashmir in the past one month while frequent raids by cops have triggered panic among people across the Valley.
The police raids have forced hundreds of youth to go into hiding while people across Kashmir remain awake during nights to foil arrests of youth.
Reports said most of the arrests have been made in Anantnag (Islamabad), Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts of South Kashmir. “Over 400 youth have been arrested from these districts in the past one month,” a senior police official said.
Several youth have also been arrested from North and Central Kashmir districts, he said.
On Sunday, Kashmir’s Inspector General of Police admitted in an official handout that 1000 youth have been arrested since July 2016. Independent sources however said over 1300 youth have been lodged in police stations so far.
Reports said from the past one week, sleuths of Special Operation Group of J&K Police and Central Reserve Police Force are carrying out joint nocturnal raids to arrest of youth who have allegedly been involved in stone-pelting or have been part of anti-India and pro-freedom protests since July 8 killing of Burhan Wani. They said hundreds of youth have gone into the hiding because of frequent police raids.
The parents of scores of youth, according to reports, are also being called to police stations. “We are being pressurized to hand-over our children,” a delegation of people from Shopian told Kashmir Post. They said in the dead of the night, policemen raid residential houses to “create panic.”
To foil the raids, people in almost all areas of Kashmir remain awake nowadays. “When cops come for raid, we resist,” residents of Shopian said, adding: “Youth do not stay at home during nights.”
Another delegation from Pulwama said police have arrested youth who have “nothing to do with stone-throwing or street protests.”
“Police raided my house last night and arrested my son. He was not involved in any stone-pelting,” Ghulam Muhammad, a local resident said. “They also beat inmates during the raid.”
“Parents are being kept in dark about the location of their sons by the concerned police authorities for unknown reasons,” a group of parents said. “During raids, the police often resort to ransacking, beating of residents and harassing women folk.”
Police, on its part, alleged that youth who have so far been arrested have participated in “separatist protests in the past one month.”