An alleged tiff between a serving judge and some policemen has disrupted courts in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch for the past two days, with protesting lawyers accusing cops of harassing the judicial officer and demanding action.

According to the police and protesters, the incident occurred Monday evening when some cops monitoring a convoy of pilgrims to the Budha Amarnath in the district stopped the vehicle of Poonch’s Additional District Judge Wajahat Mir, who was on his way back from Jammu.

“The cops asked him to park the vehicle on the side of the road,” Mobin Khan, a lawyer, said. “The judge came out of his vehicle and asked them to search, but an assistant sub-inspector took away the keys of his vehicle, saying that they had directions from seniors to stop him.”

As the news reached Poonch town, other judges rushed to the spot to escort the additional district judge.

Poonch Bar Association president Sunil Sharma said protesters have been demanding an inquiry and suspension of the cops allegedly involved.

For their part, however, the police said the vehicle was stopped as a “security measure” to allow the Budha Amarnath yatra to proceed unimpeded.

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“Since it was the first day of the yatra, pilgrims’ convoy was moving on the highway behind schedule,” a senior police officer said. “The police stopped other vehicular traffic between Bhimber Gali and Poonch between 4 pm and 6 pm to allow the yatra to pass.”

The judge, who was travelling in his private vehicle without any PSOs, ignored the signal to stop and proceeded towards Surankote, the police officer said.

“Since the area has seen militant attacks in the past, the cops alerted their counterpart on the Surankote Bypass road to intercept the vehicle and check its occupants,” the official said.

On being informed that the person travelling in the vehicle was a judge, they allowed him to leave, the officer said. “But the latter did not agree. Later, he proceeded to Poonch with other judges, who came from Poonch after hearing about the incident,” he added.

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The yatra to Budha Amarnath temple, located at 4,600 ft above sea level in Mandi town of Poonch district, is underway from August 16 to August 28. The pilgrims leave for the shrine in a convoy from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar every morning amid multi-tier security arrangements by police, paramilitary and security forces. As per folklore, the main Amarnath yatra to the South Kashmir Himalayas, which begins from Sharavan Purnima to Vyas Purnima each year, remains incomplete without paying obeisance at Budha Amarnath in Mandi town of Poonch.

In view of the threat perception to both yatras, multi-tier security arrangements are put in place every year to ensure the safety of pilgrims and the smooth travel to their respective destinations. Only pilgrims registered with the Amarnath Shrine Board are allowed to embark on the yatra in a convoy from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp under tight security.