3 UP youth questioned in Kashmir stone pelting case

Lucknow :  Three youth have been detained and are being questioned in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh for their alleged complicity in stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar district, police said on Thursday.

The police has constituted a team of the local intelligence unit (LIU) to probe their background and to question their families, an official said.

The youngsters told the police that they were taken to Pulwama district in Kashmir for employment at a stitching factory by a contractor.

The police suspects the contractor coerced them into stone-pelting during search operations by the Indian Army and security forces.

The youngsters hail from Nuka and Nanauta areas while there are other suspects believed to be from Baghpat district.

The families of the detained youth told the police that their children had gone to Kashmir for a contractual job at a stitching factory but they returned, complaining of being coerced into stone-pelting.

Saharanpur District Magistrate Alok Pandey told IANS that the issue was being probed and all aspects were being verified.

Superintendent of Police of Saharanpur Jai Prakash said the youth were changing their statements frequently. “Hence the police and LIU are trying to corroborate the information provided by them.”

The police is also on the lookout for the contractor who took these youth to the Valley.

Published on June 21, 2018 at 17:07 IST

IANS