Headless Cow Sparks Violence in Samba

Frenzy mob torch DMs vehicle, curfew imposed

Srinagar: A frenzy mob damaged scores of vehicles and torched the government vehicle of District Magistrate Samba Sheetal Nanda after rumour about the recovery of a headless body of cow spread in the Samba district.

Eyewitnesses said that a headless cow was found along a canal in Samba district on Thursday evening. People from a particular community took it as a cow slaughter and assembled in large number near Raya Mode of the town. I rushed to the spot to pacify the protesters. As I alighted from the vehicle and moved ahead, miscreants set the vehicle on fire, District Magistrate Samba Sheetal Nanda said adding that to maintain peace curfew has been imposed in the district. She said that everything is normal in the town. We have constituted an inquiry team to probe the matter. It may be the handiwork and some miscreants who want to disturb the peace in the district. Investigation is going on and guilty will not be spared, she said.

Official sources said that trouble erupted after locals spotted the head of a bovine animal floating in a nullah near Raya after the rains. As the word spread, some local youth gathered on the spot and started protesting. They started hurling stones at trucks passing through the area. While police officials tried to crack down on the protesters, they were soon outnumbered and were forced to leave the spot. After the police retreated, the protesters started torching vehicles on the national highway. The violence soon spread to the other areas, forcing the DM to impose curfew.

Reports said the protesters also blocked the Jammu-Pathankote national highway and damaged around 10 vehicles. “Curfew has been imposed following violence in the area. It is probably for the first time a DM’s vehicle was set on fire” said divisional commissioner Jammu Pawan Kotwal told CNS.

Panchayat Polls Post Completion Of Formalities: Dy CM

Jobs Under Threat

This is the third incident of communal flare-up in Jammu Division over the past three months. On Wednesday, protests erupted in Gangyal area after some religious books were allegedly set on fire by a group of miscreants in Purnmandal Morh locality of Bari Brahamna village. A youth was killed in June when police fired at protesters after posters of the Sikh separatist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were removed by authorities. (CNS)

Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now

Be Part of Quality Journalism

Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast.

ACT NOW