Panic grips apple growers, truckers in Shopian
FALLOUT On Thursday, a truck driver and his helper, both residents of Rajasthan, were shot dead by militants; their fruit-laden vehicle was also set ablaze
SRINAGAR: Panic has gripped apple growers and traders in south Kashmir’s Shopian and many non-local truck drivers have left the district overnight following the killing of two truckers by suspected militants on Thursday. This was the third attack on non-local truck drivers in last two weeks.
A truck driver Mohammad Ilyas and his helper Imtiyaz Ahmad, both from Alwar in Rajasthan, were killed in Chitragam village when gunmen opened fire and set ablaze their fruit-laden trucks. Another driver Jewan Singh from Hoshiarpur in Punjab was critically injured and has been fighting for his life at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar.
“He is on a ventilator and we can’t say anything about his condition with certainty,” said medical superintendent at SMHS, Nazir Choudhary.
The fruit traders and apple growers are alarmed following three consecutive attacks on traders and truckers belonging from outside the state.
“Many truck drivers left the district without loading apples. Growers, traders and transporters are distressed. We understand that the target is not the apple industry but nevertheless it has been directly hit,” said
Abdul Shakoor, a trader from Shopian.
Five people from outside, four of them associated with the fruit industry have been killed in south Kashmir by unidentified gunmen after the central government revoked the state’s special status on August 5.
On October 14, gunmen shot dead a driver from Rajasthan in Shopian. Two days later, a fruit trader Charanjeet Singh was killed in the district. In September, suspected militants had barged into the house of a local fruit trader in north Kashmir’s Sopore leaving four people injured.
The non-local truck drivers in the Valley are a scared lot. “We are poor people and come here for earning our livelihood. We have nothing to do with any politics here. Please spare us,” said a driver from Punjab.
Following the attacks in Shopian, the government had established ‘safe zones’ where it had asked truckers to load apples rather than going deep into the villages. The government had also advised apple growers to bring the fruit to these points.
Director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, inspector general of police SP Pani and Shopian superintendent of police Sandeep Choudhary did not respond to calls from HT.
Shopian deputy commissioner Yaseen Choudhary said they are enhancing the security and have urged the growers to do trade only in safe zones.
“Some drivers have left the district overnight but the loading of apple is still going on. Those drivers who were targeted had ventured out of the safe zones. The trade has been affected slightly but it will go on. We are bringing in more security measures,” he said.
The attacks are prompting some growers to register themselves with government’s market intervention scheme under which they can sell their produce directly to the government-run National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
“There is fear among people and the freight is increasing, which is ultimately affecting the grower. I registered myself to sell the fruit under NAFED. So far, people were not registering because of a lot of apprehensions but now many are opting for it owing to the situation,” said Mohammad Habeel, an apple grower.
Last week, DGP Dilbag Singh had said they have identified the militants behind the attacks. “One is a Pakistani militant Salman bhai, while others are Naveed and Raheel Magray. One of the militants had even gone to the fruit orchards asking the growers not to pluck their fruit,” the DGP had said.
On Friday, an official spokesperson said that nearly 6 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of fresh fruits have been transported out of the Kashmir valley in last three months.
“In last three months, 5,88,123 metric tonne of fresh fruits have been transported out of the Valley in 41,672 trucks”, the spokesperson said.
Animal, sheep, fisheries and transport department principal secretary Asghar Hassan Samoon chaired a meeting here to take stock of transport facilities available for export of fruits from the Valley to outside.
Representatives of fruit growers unions of Kulgam, Shopian, Anantnag, Sopore, Baramulla, Charari Sharief, Pulwama and Parimpora were also present in the meeting. Giving breakup of fruits transported in the last three months, the spokesman said that 66,492 MT fruits were transported in 5,070 trucks in August this year. While 1,64,072.66 MT of fruits were transported in September in 11,837 trucks, 3,57,558.30 MT of fruits were carried in 24,765 trucks till October 20.
In the meeting, Samoon discussed about availability of transport for carrying fruits from different parts of Kashmir valley to outside. He also directed officers to ensure that truckers adhere to the freight rate fixed by government for transportation of fruit within J&K and outside. He also asked officials to facilitate movement of fruit trucks on highways.
The fruit industry comprises of some 5.27 orchardists spread across the Kashmir valley.
September, October and November are considered the peak season when different varieties of fruit are harvested and sent to domestic markets as well as foreign countries. However, fruit markets, like other business establishments in the Valley, have remained shut after the Centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5.
› Some drivers have left the district overnight but the loading of apple is still going on. The apple trade has been affected slightly but it will go on. YASEEN CHOUDHARY, Shopian DC › We are poor people and come here to earn our livelihood. We have nothing to do with any issue or politics in the Valley. Please spare us. A truck driver from Punjab