Taxi drivers in Baramulla are breathing easy as for the first time in 13 years, the Army has not asked them to bring their vehicles to its camps late in the night.
A day after >The Hindu reported the practice of 29 Rashtriya Rifles using commercial taxis for suspected counter-insurgency operations without paying the drivers, the Army informed them that they don’t need the vehicles anymore.
“The Army said they have changed the rules and we don’t need to send our vehicles every night,” a taxi driver said. “This is the first time since 2002 that we have not taken a car to the camp.”
Taxi stands in Kreeri, Wagoora, Hamri and other villages in Baramulla district were told to send at least one vehicle every night to the 29 Rashtriya Rifles camp. The driver was asked to leave his vehicle at the RR camp. Another vehicle would be sent the next evening and the previous day’s car would be brought back. The drivers were not sure what the Army used the cars for. The drivers live under the constant fear of being targeted by militants or being seen as complicit in the Army’s counter-insurgency and intelligence operations.
