Police busts sheep theft gang in Shopian, recovers stolen livestock

Police in Shopian cracked multiple sheep theft cases bringing relief to affected families and recovered stolen live stock.A Police spokesperson said, the residents of Heegund Batpora, Ayend Rawalpora and Ramnagri had reported theft incidents involving dozens of stolen sheep causing panic in the area. Consequently, FIR No. 03/2025 at PS Heerpora and FIR Nos. 21/2025, 23/2025, and 31/2025 at PS Shopian were registered and investigations were initiated.To expedite the investigation and recover the stolen livestock, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted by SSP Shopian comprising officers from PS Shopian and PS Heerpora under the supervision of DySP Hqrs Shopian. The team questioned multiple suspects and analysed CCTV footage from various routes eventually identifying and apprehending the culprits besides making recovery of dozens of stolen sheep. The arrested individual have been identified as Tariq Ahmad Dar son of Gh Hassan resident of Raiwatan Aasnoor, Kulgam, Nissar Ahmad Malla son of Gh Rasool Malla resident of Wazir Check, Imam Sahib, Shopian and Abdul Rehman Mir son of Bashir Ahmad Mir resident of Sarmarg Kandimarg, Kulgam. During questioning, the accused confessed their involvement in multiple theft incidents, not only in Shopian but also in Bijbehara (Anantnag) and Kakapora (Pulwama),Efforts are on to apprehend other gang members who remain at large, and further confessions are expected as the investigation continues.