Miscreants chop off dozens of apple trees in Sumbal

Sumbal, Nov 30: Some unknown miscreants have chopped off dozens of apple trees of an orchardist in Sumbal village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
Abdul Rashid Parray, the owner, told Greater Kashmir he felt “devastated” after people reported to him that someone had chopped off the apple trees of his orchard.

He said, "I went to the orchard and saw trees either uprooted or chopped off, it was a frightening sight leaving me frustrated over why this could have happened."
Parray said it was after around seven to eight years of hard work that he developed the orchard, which was earlier a paddy field, and would fetch a modest profit from selling the produce.

He said the land that he had bought years ago was spread over 3 Kanals with almost 300 apple trees now, from which around 50 trees were completely damaged.

"Only an owner would know the real damage, but if it is to be put in numbers Rs 8 to 10 lakh is what the loss would amount to", he said, adding that each tree would fetch him several boxes of apples.

What is more frustrating for Parray is that he is "clueless" about who might have done this "evil thing". "But to be clear," he says, "it is not a one-man’s job".

The apple orchard is located on the main road at Rakhi Asham village in Sumbal and as per Parray, "It is a very busy spot, so it is impossible for anyone during the day to have done this, even when the orchard
is fully fenced." Parray said police have taken cognizance of the case and he hopes that there is some clarity about it.