UP youth claim they were lured in stone-pelting gangs of Kashmir in pretext of job

They also claimed that they were recruited on a wage of Rs 20, 000 per month for stitching works but were being pressurised to hurl stones at the jawans.

Representational Image: Stone-pelters in Kashmir/ File image/ PTI

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation that has surfaced lately,  two youths of west Uttar Pradesh were leveraged to get into the gang of stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir against the Indian army. Two young men of west Uttar Pradesh, hailing from Baghpat and Saharanpur have claimed that in the pretext of offering jobs, they were being involved in the stone-pelting gangs. They said that they somehow managed to escape and come back to their places. As per reports the agenda of these groups is to defend the militant outfits from security forces. The youths who were told that they would be trained to stitch clothes were actually being trained for pelting stones at the army. Central government and intelligence agencies have become alert after finding out about this connection to western Uttar Pradesh. As per the youths, they along with a group of young men went to Lassipora of Kashmir’s Pulwama district for stitching and embroidery work. The two youths elaborated that whenever the army jawans encountered a militant, the militant would enter any random village and take shelter in any house. Afterwards, to distract the army men these groups would start pelting stones at them. They also claimed that they were recruited on a wage of Rs 20, 000 per month for stitching works, but were later pushed to unskilled works like mopping and washing vehicles. At the same time they were being pressurised to hurl stones at the jawans. They were threatened of dire consequences in case they would not follow the commands. The police is probing the story told by the youths for its authenticity.