Banihal/Jammu, Apr 14: Authorities on Tuesday intensified a multi-agency search in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district for a man feared to have fallen into a fast-flowing stream after allegedly being assaulted for carrying a cow in his vehicle.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted and four people have been arrested in connection with the case, which triggered widespread protests and tension in the district along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Agitating locals, including the victim’s family, also blocked the arterial road for over four hours on Monday.
Tanveer Ahmad Chopan (25), a resident of Mundkhal Pogal in Ukhral tehsil, was travelling from Jammu towards his native village in a Tata Mobile vehicle ferrying a milch cow and two calves when he was allegedly chased and assaulted by cow vigilantes on Sunday, locals claimed.
According to eyewitness accounts, Chopan jumped into the nearby Nallah Bishlari while trying to save himself.
After an overnight halt, the search operation resumed on Tuesday morning, with teams from the police, SDRF and NDRF, along with local volunteers, focusing on the many large boulders scattered across the stream amid apprehensions that the body may be trapped beneath them, officials said.
They said the operation is being carried out across difficult terrain, with teams combing also downstream stretches in a coordinated effort.
Many relatives of the missing man have joined the search operation, while others are camping along the banks of the stream, anxiously keeping vigil and hoping for his early recovery as efforts continue for the third day.
