Bandipora, Dec 10: The residents of Gurez valley in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Friday staged a protest against authorities for allegedly stopping the vehicular movement on the Gurez-Bandipora road before the deadline set by the district administration.
The protesters said that even after abiding by the advisory issued by the district administration, the people are facing difficulties.
President Sumo Stand Gurez, Ali Mohammad told Rising Kashmir that the vehicles arrived at Tragbal Pass on time; however, due to the transit of some security vehicles from Gurez to Bandipora, they were asked to wait until those security vehicles left the checkpoint.
“Our vehicles stayed put and we were not ultimately granted permission citing that the time limit to go through the checkpoint had passed,” Mohammad said.
However, the Station House Officer of Pethkote Malik Masood refuted the allegations that the vehicles were made to wait. “They arrived at the Tragbal checkpoint after the expiry of the cut-off time,” he told Rising Kashmir.
“Previously, we had allowed 45 automobiles to continue their journey to Gurez, but some vehicles showed up at the checkpoint after the deadline had already passed. So they were not given permission to move on as per the SOPs issued by the district administration Bandipora,” the SHO said.
The Bandipora district administration has issued an advisory for traveling on the Bandipora-Gurez road, specifying that the vehicles must pass through the checkpoints prior to a specified time to avoid any probable risks due to unfavorable weather or snowfall.
