The family members of truck driver Mohammed Ilyas from Rajasthan, who was killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, have refused to accept the deceased’s body unless their demands of Rs 15 lakh and a government job in compensation are not met.
District Collector Ram Charan Sharma, officiating the procedure said that a large crowd gathered outside Ilyas’ home in Khobas village and district officials all tried to convince the family to accept the body which arrived in the wee hours of Saturday, but the family denied to accept the body until their demands were not fulfilled.
In the fourth such incident which has transpired in the last couple of weeks, Ilyas (45), and his helper Zahid Meo were killed by terrorists in Kashmir’s Shopian district on October 24.
Ilyas and Zahid were returning with a truckload of apples. They had gone to the valley to deliver a supply of milk at the army camps. They were attacked near Shopian.
As per a report in Hindustan Times, Ilyas is survived by his wife and four children while Zahid Meo, a resident of Bharatpur district, by his wife and three children.
The state government has given Rs 2 lakh to each family while the Jammu and Kashmir government has promised to give Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased.
The recent killings of non-local workers, traders and truck drivers by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir have provoked a sense of fear among non-locals who load their trucks and transport Kashmiri apples to other states. Terrorised by the brutal killings unleashed by Kashmiri terrorists at various places across Kashmir, many truck drivers are now returning empty from the Valley.
Reportedly, after the successful abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, normalcy has been restored in the valley. However, an isolated Pakistan due to its desperation to internationalise the issue has been attempting to incite violence in the valley to disrupt the normalcy.
In just last two weeks, two non-local truck drivers have been shot down by terrorists. In another such incident, an apple trader from Punjab named Charanjeet Singh was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Shopian district last Wednesday.
These killing came days after terrorists shot dead a truck driver from Rajasthan and assaulted an orchard owner in Shirmal village in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. The truck, bearing a Rajasthan registration number, was set ablaze on its way to Jammu. The body of the driver was recovered from the truck.
In August, terrorists had shot and killed a 65-year-old shopkeeper for defying their diktat and keeping his shop open. On September 7, three fruit traders and a toddler were shot by terrorists in Sopore.
As per reports, after these attacks, a fresh wave of terror has gripped in the valley resulting in non-locals fearing to enter or stay in the state. Truck drivers camping in Kashmir valley to ferry apple boxes outside the state are living in constant fear after terrorist attacks on non-local workers. The main markets, where apple growers were bringing their crop from different orchards in the region are deserted.
Many truckers, which carry essential commodities and other goods for the people of Kashmir from Jammu and other parts of the country are being targeted and not allowed to load apples for different destinations in the country.
The terrorist attacks have not only resulted in losses to non-local workers but also to the local Kashmiri apple growers, who are now facing the heat as no trucks are being able to transport their apples out of the state.
