Ideology, money and the lucrative business of stone pelting in Kashmir

Stone pelting is a lucrative business in Jammu and Kashmir. Not only do they earn anything between Rs 500 and 1,000 a day, but they help terrorists in the midst of encounters flee from the spot. There have been sufficient reports by the Intelligence Bureau stating that a lot of the money is being send in from Pakistan.

The latest figure suggests that for the Kashmir unrest that was fueled in July, a total sum of Rs 30 crore had been pumped in from Pakistan. The question is whether all this money is spent on just the unrest. The separatists have their cut and a portion of it is used to pay off the stone pelters, organise demonstrations etc.

Stone pelting became a trend in 2010 during an unrest. Stone pelters were roped in for as much as Rs 400 a day. The payments would increase up to Rs 800 depending the gravity of the situation. At that time, the money was raised internally and the man in charge was Kashmir separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He would raise money through the local mills and fruit vendors. A small amount had to be paid to him compulsorily so that he could fuel the unrest.

The payments however increased during the 2016 riot. A minimum of Rs 500 would be paid for a small protest. For the larger ones, sums of up to Rs 1,000 were also being paid. Interestingly due to the curfew a lot of migrant workers especially from Bihar had gone out of work. They too joined the list of stone pelters and earned enough money to sustain them through the curfew period.

Accounts under scanner:

An NIA officer says that a little over Rs 30 crore had been pumped into the state and the money was withdrawn to fund the unrest. The NIA has on its radar at least 17 accounts. All these accounts have suspicious transactions. It is clear that vulnerable people were roped in and accounts opened in their names. This was done with the sole intention of avoiding the scanner of the agencies.

After the accounts were opened up, money was transferred to the accounts. The money was then withdrawn in several instalments. It was made sure that after all the money was withdrawn the accounts were closed.

The money was used to pay the stone pelters, orchestrate road blocks and also fund infiltrations, preliminary investigations have learnt.

The NIA is also looking into the flow of money from the Gulf. It has been found that several Kashmiri businessmen were approached and asked to send money. In a bid to justify the transaction, they had over invoiced the price of the goods that they had sold.

OneIndia News