Another brain behind stone-pelters arrested

Jammu and Kashmir Police have unearthed a major nexus between timber smugglers and stone-pelters in the south Kashmir district of Shopian.

The breakthrough came when police arrested notorious timber smuggler Nazir Ahmad Lone alias Nazir Konda of Alipora village for allegedly instigating stone-pelting so that he could fell green gold in the jungles.

Shafqat Ahmad Watali, DIG South Kashmir, said Konda was arrested on Saturday evening. “Konda had developed a sinister modus operandi for timber smuggling. He would fund associates to pelt stones at police, creating pandemonium in the area [Shopian] and diverting cops’ attention to restoration of law and order,” he said.

Watali said Konda was wanted in a number of timber-smuggling cases and had been evading arrest for a long time.

“The incidents of stone-pelting will come down with his arrest,” he said.

Watali’s arrest comes barely days after the arrest of Mohammad Altaf Sheikh alias Shera, who was allegedly involved in abetting and organising stone-pelting and intimidating shopkeepers to observe shutdowns in Srinagar.