This neighbourhood once prided itself on its proximity to J-K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s palatial home. Now it curses itself. Across this suburb, which should have been the showcase of Mufti’s healing touch policy, people are at the receiving end of a ‘‘terror campaign’’ let loose by a gang of extortionists including members of the officially disbanded Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J-K Police.Last Thursday, two SOG personnel were arrested after Kadeer Ahmad walked into the Nowgam police station in blood-splattered clothes. The SOG men, he said, had beaten him up and taken his money. A party of the disbanded SOG also raided his house and reportedly harassed the family. ‘‘We set about the task of nabbing SOG men Parviz Ahmad and Ghulam Jeelani when we were informed that they had raided Ahmad’s house,’’ a top police official said.However, despite the arrests and a police escort for Ahmad, an SOG party reportedly raided his home again. ‘‘We have instructions from the top to take cognisance of this. These SOG personnel will be dismissed from service and action taken against those who are harassing people,’’ the official added.People in the neighbourhood seethe with rage over the high-handedness of SOG men as they mock at Sayeed’s claim of having disbanded the force. ‘‘We thought this was among the privileged areas of the Valley as we had the CM in our midst. But you can see for yourself,’’ Mohammad Amin, a resident, said.The SOG men aren’t alone. Residents say they are also targets of extortion by counter-insurgents and security force men. A week ago, a source of the BSF’s 198 battalion and counter-insurgent Javid Ahmad tipped off the force about two suspected LeT militants. After the duo were taken into custody, Javid reportedly went to their homes demanding money to set them free.‘‘We were misled by our source. We had suspected it and after checking the antecedents of the two men we let them go the next day,’’ a BSF officer said. ‘‘We have removed Javid from the group of our sources after we were informed that he had extorted money from families. We handed him over to police,’’ the officer added.But police released Ahmad, saying his ‘victims’ had not lodged any complaint. One of the families said why : ‘‘We were scared that once this BSF source was released he would again harass us,’’ a family member said.
