Reluctant to pay dues, man dubs driver a braid-chopper

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 18

The police today registered a case against a man in north Kashmir who was reluctant to pay dues to a tractor driver and got him beaten up from villagers by labelling him a braid-chopper.

The case has been registered against Mohammad Sultan Lone, a resident of Gund-Chobutra village of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, the police said. Jameel Ahmad Dar, a resident of Sarpara village, had been working as a tractor driver for Lone. The employer owed pending salary of Rs 50,000 to Dar. On Monday this week, Dar went to Lone’s house to get his salary. “To his surprise, the owner, firstly, on one or other pretext refused to pay him. Then he labelled him a braid-chopper,” the police said. The reluctant employer then “created a scene” in the village, the police said, which attracted the attention of other villagers who thrashed Dar without verifying Lone’s claim. It is the first case linked to the ongoing braid-chopping scare which the police has established is result of personal enmity.

The Kashmir valley has witnessed almost daily protests for the past month due to the increasing number of alleged braid-chopping incidents that have created a panic and fear in the region. So far, more than 70 such cases have been registered across the Valley and the widespread scare has led to vigilantism and mob attacks against strangers.

The police is yet to officially issue any detailed statement about the cases. However, investigators have found that many cases are a result of psychiatric issues and some are rooted in personal enmity and rivalry. The police said the driver’s case was an example of “mischievous elements” using the braid-chopping scare as a “tool in their personal disputes”. “An FIR has been registered in this regard at Kralgund police station against the accused and the investigation has been taken up,” a police spokesman said.