Shopian: Thieves and burglars in Shopian district are getting away scot-free even after a spree of burglaries and thefts of property worth lakhs, including of dozens of cattle and hundreds of apple boxes.
Last week, again, a dozen cattle were stolen by thieves at Saipora village in Zainpora area, including two cows belonging to Abdul Hameed Khan. Khursheed Ahmad, a local resident, said that cattle worth 7 lakh rupees were stolen in a single burglary in the village and even after searching everywhere, the owners could find no trace of the stolen cows.
Similarly on November 8, 170 apple-laden wooden boxes belonging to Ghulam Hassan Wani, resident of Kadgam village in Imamsahib area, were stolen during the night.
Wani told Kashmir Reader that the apple boxes were worth at least Rs 1.5 lakh. “We work hard throughout the year to grow these apples but when we are about to get the returns of our sweat and hard work, they are being stolen by thieves,” he rued.
A day after this burglary, thieves again struck at Tulran village in Imamsahib area, where they took away 250 packed apple boxes, also during night hours. Locals said that the 250 apple boxes were worth Rs 2.5 lakh. They said that such burglaries have become common and law enforcing agencies, particularly the police, have failed to nab such thieves.
“Once they get a free hand, the thieves become emboldened and commit more thefts. The general public, particularly farmers, is at the receiving end,” said Muneeb Ahmad, a fruit grower.
A police officer said that police were working on nabbing the thieves. “There are several such burglaries which were solved by the police in recent past. We also summon suspects for questioning and sometimes it gives us leads to the actual thieves,” he said.

Raashid Hassan