Police have registered an FIR against 47 people for allegedly encroaching upon forest land in a Gujjar-populated village of Lidroo near south Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort.
The case also has sections related to cannabis cultivation, officials said on Tuesday.
The officials told a local news agency, Global News Service (GNS) that the FIR (18/2021) has been registered at Police Station Pahalgam under sections of 8/20 NDPS Act and 26 Indian Forest Act on the basis of a criminal complaint lodged by the Forest Range Officer.
“All the accused who encroached forest land belong to village Lidroo located nearby,” a police officer told GNS. “One and all involved in drug trafficking and cultivating narcotic drugs will face the wrath of law,” he added.
Lidroo village near Pahalgam resort is home to a minuscule Gujjar population and was the scene of an anti-encroachment drive last year.
On 16 November last year, teams of the local authorities comprising the forest department and the tourist resort’s development authority had demolished three temporary structures belonging to the tribal Gujjar community in Lidroo, which had later led to a major outcry.
