Tral areas shut against thrashing of Hizb militant’s family

Pulwama: Life was disrupted in South Kashmir’s Tral town due to shutdown against an army raid on a militant’s house and the subsequent thrashing of family members.
From past couple of days, army has allegedly been raiding the houses of active militants in different parts of South Kashmir and allegedly thrashing the family members of these militants and ransacking the houses.
These raids sparked protest in different hamlets of South Kashmir’s Shopian district while on Sunday night according to locals, the army men from 42 Rashtriya Rifles raided the house of a Hizbul Mujhadeen militant at Wagad village of Aripal tehsil of Tral town in Pulwama district, ransacking the house and beat inmates to pulp.
Locals said troopers barged into the house of Hizb militant Mushtaq Ahmed Chopan and thrashed his old aged father, Ghulam Ahmed Chopan.“The troopers not only thrashed him but also injured dozens of villagers,” Chopan’s family members alleged.
The incident sparked a shutdown in the town while people blocked the roads amid pro-freedom slogans. According to locals, after finding these roads blocked, the government forces went on a rampage and ransacked the houses and damaged the windowpanes of a local mosque in Wagad.
“Government Forces broke window panes, smashed goods, accessories and damaged property worth lakhs,” the locals alleged.
Meanwhile, shops and other business establishments remained closed in the town while skeletal movement of transport was observed on the roads.