Five held for attacking cops; Oppn urges govt to halt eviction drive

Five people were arrested and four detained in connection with stone-pelting during an anti-encroachment drive in Jammu last week, the police said on Monday.

Three policemen were injured during the stone-pelting that took place on Saturday during the drive to demolish a vehicle showroom built on “encroached land” in Malik market of Narwal bypass area. Showroom owner Sajad Ahmed Beigh is among those arrested, the police said. Political parties in J&K have urged the administration to halt the eviction drive.

In Srinagar, the Awami Awaz Party held a protest against the eviction drive. Carrying placards, several activists of the party assembled in Maisuma market to register their anger. Party leader Nadeem Ahmad said the administration should stop the drive which is “affecting the poor people”. “Who were affected by the demolition drive at Mehjoor Nagar yesterday? They are poor people who are living hand to mouth,” Ahmad said.

National Conference (NC) leader and former CM Omar Abdullah said the government wanted to create lawlessness in society by “bypassing legal procedures”. Omar said the administration should make public the list of encroachers of state land, serve them notices and follow legal procedures to retrieve the land. “Taking out bulldozers on a daily basis has created fear and anxiety,” he said.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, addressing mediapersons in Delhi, said the BJP had made J&K’s situation worse than that of Afghanistan. “Initially, we thought BJP drew motivation from what Israel was doing to Palestine, but they (BJP) seem to have surpassed them also. Kashmir now looks like Afghanistan. After taking away land and jobs from people of Kashmir, the BJP is now taking away shelter from them,” she alleged. She appealed to the Opposition to not remain mute spectator to the “atrocities”.

People’s Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone said the administration seemed to be more interested in humiliating people than retrieving land.