Srinagar
As the hysteria surrounding the alleged braid-chopping incidents continues in Kashmir, six foreign tourists had a narrow escape in Srinagar during the dead of night when locals mistook them for braid-choppers.

The tourists had lost their way and strayed into the interiors of the Dal Lake area.

The six foreign tourists, including two women, were returning from Kargil in a taxi when they lost their way near Saida Kadal in Srinagar city around 2 am today. The tourists reached a dead end in Mir Behri, a locality deep inside the Dal Lake area.

“Locals had been vigilant as a few days earlier a braid-chopping incident had happened in the area. On seeing a group of foreigners, many locals mistook them for braid-choppers and raised a hue and cry,” said Nasir Hussain, a local from Mir Behri. “However, on sensing that the visitors were foreign tourists, my friends and I asked the agitated locals not to harm them and in the meantime rang up the SHO of Rainawari police station,” said Hussain.

“After pacifying the locals, my friends and I made the frightened tourists understand the context of the situation. We told them that people of the Valley were paranoid of the alleged braid-chopping incidents,” Hussain added.

A police officer said three of the tourists, including two women, had come from Australia, while the three others were from Ireland, England and South Korea. “We took the tourists to the police station, where we offered them tea and also made them understand the situation so that they wouldn’t leave with a bad impression about Kashmir,” the officer said.

Though unconfirmed reports from Kulgam said there were three incidents of braid-chopping in Dardparen, Lassarpora and Noorabad, the police said it had no such information. A police official manning the special helpline said no incident of braid-chopping was reported from the district today.