Srinagar, Jul 25: The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association on Friday has written to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking immediate intervention to end the alleged harassment, extortion, and illegal seizure of livestock transporters passing through Punjab en route to Kashmir.
In the letter, National Convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, expressed “deep anguish and growing alarm over an ongoing crisis that has disrupted the critical supply of livestock to Jammu and Kashmir, severely affected the livelihoods of hundreds of dealers and transporters, and exposed the systematic harassment taking place at key checkpoints in Punjab.”
The letter noted that the Kashmir Mutton Dealers Association has been forced to suspend the transportation of livestock from outside states due to “repeated and unlawful harassment, extortion, and intimidation faced by truckers at various transit points in Punjab, particularly at Shambu and Madhopur checkpoints.”
According to the Association, “several truckers ferrying livestock to Kashmir have reported being forcibly stopped by local contractors who, under the false guise of enforcing cattle fair rules and in the name of animal welfare, are extorting huge sums of money from them.”
