Thieves on prowl in Baramulla, residents in fear

Baramulla, Jan 22: The growing incidents of theft in Baramulla town and adjacent villages have become a cause of concern for residents, who say they are living in constant fear.
In a recent case, four shops were looted by burglars at fish market Baramulla during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
The shopkeepers in Baramulla told Rising Kashmir that unidentified burglars looted four shops in the Fish Market area and decamped with cash and valuable items.
They said that burglars have stolen cash and other valuable items worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from the looted shops.
They expressed concern over the recent string of burglaries in the town and have called for a thorough investigation and the arrest of those responsible.
Locals said that a series of thefts have been reported from Old town Baramulla also from the last few weeks.
“Some unknown miscreants are barging into the houses of common people to commit extortion and theft at Old Town Baramulla,” a local from the old town said.
The locals of Old town say that several houses have been looted in the area by unidentified thieves, and that it has become a routine occurrence in the town.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, the General Secretary of Beopar Mandal Baramulla, Tariq Mughloo appealed to the police to increase night patrols in affected areas until the miscreants are arrested.
“In a recent meeting with SSP Baramulla, we raised the issue of burglaries in Baramulla and today this happened. The business class of Baramulla is already under duress and these burglaries will make them suffer more,” Mughloo said.
He further appealed to the DIG North Kashmir, SSP Baramulla, SHO Baramulla to increase patrolling in the market area and nab the burglars as soon as possible.
Same incidents of burglaries have been reported from Binner village of Baramulla and villages of Rafiabad.
Residents of Binner Baramulla told Rising Kashmir over phone that around 4 theft incidents were reported in the area within a week’s time.
“We have now teams of volunteers, who patrol throughout the night to check on the rising incidents of thefts in our village. It is scary,” the residents of Binner Baramulla said.
The residents have appealed to the police department to take concrete measures to stop the incidents of robbery.
The Senior Superintendent of Police for Baramulla, Amod Nagpure, said that they are working to sort out the issue.
“We are working on it,” the SSP Baramulla said.
Meanwhile, police said that a case has been registered with regards to fish market Baramulla incident and investigation has been initiated.