Srinagar: A whopping amount of almost Rs 58 crore illegal tax has been paid by Kashmiri truckers to goons in Punjab since 2015 in the name Cattle Fair Tax, Abdur Rashid Chowdhary, secretary of Chinar Sheep and Goat Welfare Assocition said.
Chowdhary was speaking to reporters during a protest organised by Kashmir-based mutton dealers against what they alleged as ‘harassment by goons at Madhopur in Punjab.’
According to Chowdhary authorities in Madhopur had told them to talk local MLA there but to no avail.
“This tax collection is a fraudulent practice” Chowdhary said.
Protesting mutton dealers alleged thst goons on Lakhanpur-Madhaopur-Pathankot road extort Rs 30,000 as “cattle tax” from the Kashmiri truckers.
“Goons at Madhaopur beat and harass whoever opposes their demand for ransom,” General secretary of All Kashmir Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association, Mehraj-ud-Din Ganie alleged.
“we used to pay Rs 6000 per-truck but goons have increased the illegal tax to six-percent of the total value of the livestock,” Ganie said.
