Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, June 20: After night long rampage by the Jammu and Kashmir Police Cadets in Manigam Police Training School in the Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal, calm returned to the PTS in the morning but the cadets have now gone on hunger strike against the police higher ups.
Sources said that Principal of the PTS Manigam, Ganderbal, Baqar Samoon is trying to persuade the cadets not to take confrontational path. He has been persuading them that the passing out parade will be held soon and tried to calm down them.
Sources said that in the morning when the cadets were called for morning roll call by the Principal of the PTS, the agitating cadets demanded that some senior police officer should visit to the training Centre so that they will express their grievances and demanded assurances for holding of the passing out parade. “However, no senior police officer visited the PTS Manigam to address their grievances and cadets have now gone on hunger strike”, sources added.
Around 900 cadets have finished their training some 16 months ago and are waiting for passing out parade. The police officials have been assuring them that the passing out parade will be held soon but so far it has not been.
Last night when over 600 of them were told that they have to proceed for yatra duty, this irked them. They protested against it and went on rampage inside the training school and outside on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
Large number of vehicles got damaged inside and out the PTS Manigam in the rampage that lasted for whole night.
The trainees, during the night long rampaging damaged canteens, mess and window panes of the police barracks inside the PTS. Senior police officers including the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir A G Mir visited the training centre to deal with the law and order problem during the night.
The hue and cry raised by the trainees at night created panic and fear in the adjacent villages.
The Government so far has not taken any action against the cadets who went on rampage last night.
Sources said that today 150 cadets have been asked to report to Superintendent of Police Ganderbal and 250 to the SSP Anantnag for yatra duty. So far they are in the PTS Manigam and they may be asked to proceed for duties tomorrow.
Majority of the trainees have been recruited in 2011 from Srinagar’s old city area. Most of them have been recruited to tackle the law and order problem in Srinagar city and many other parts of Kashmir valley.