In a henious act of vandalism, unidentified miscreants chopped down hundreds of apple trees in Kandipora village of South Kashmiri’s Anantnag , leaving behind a trail of destruction.
The incident which took place late last night has caused immense distress to the victims as their means of livelihood have been wiped out overnight.
Locals of the area beleive the personal fued over land dispute among families the cause of incident.
A victim, M Iqbal Bhat told Rising Kashmir that around 150 apple trees have been chopped down over 12 canals of orchard which has caused immense financial and emotional distress to the victims.
He said that the incident took place in two different orchards which belongs to nine families.
“Few persons of the village had already threatened us about chopping down of trees,” iqbal said .
Adding that they have informed police about the suspected persons who are believed to be involved in this shocking incident.
Another victim Nazeer Ah Bhat said , “We are completely shattered. Our entire source of income has been destroyed. It will take us years to recover from this loss”.
He said that the miscreants have used axes and saws to chop down the trees which leaves a trail of destruction in their wake.
Another victim M Ashraf , owner of three canal apple orchard in the area questioned that if the personal fued between some families is suspected to be the reason of the incident , why his orchard was also targeted if his family has no connection to the families involved in the dispute.
“Authorities should look into the matter and take immediate action against the culprits,” he said.
A Field Officer Horticulture zone Bijbehara, Mushtaq Ah told Rising Kashmir that 120 apple trees have been chopped down in which around 50 trees were fruit-bearing.
He said that the they visited the spot and took proper assessment of the immense loss caused in this incident.
However, Official from Police Station Bijbehara said , a man identified as Mohammad Ramzan Bhat from Kandipora Bijbehara submitted an application at police station Bijbehara, claiming that hundreds of fruit-bearing apple trees have been chopped down by few suspected persons in his orchards.
The official said a case (FIR No 72/2023 under section 427,447, 436, 147 ) has been registered in this regard and a team has been constituted to investigate the matter.
“The culprits will be identified, booked and punished,” he said.
