Kashmiri boy ‘thrashed’ in auto-rickshaw

Amarjot Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 22

Mohammad Weqas, a 20-year-old Kashmiri student pursuing third year in civil engineering at the Quest Group of Institutions on the Landran-Sirhind highway, Jhanjeri, has accused five unknown men of beating him up on his way to Landran in a shared auto-rickshaw. While Weqas said he wasn’t in the frame of mind to talk to the media, his friend and roommate narrated the incident according to the statement given to the Kharar police.

 He said Weqas was en route college  from his apartment in Shivalik City, Kharar, when five men heard him talk on the phone in Kashmiri. “He left home somewhere between 10 am and 10.30 am. It takes two consecutive auto rides from Shivalik City to reach the college; one till Landran and the other from Landran to Jhanjeri. Some people travelling with him till Landran heard him speak in Kashmiri and asked him if he belonged to Kashmir. The moment he said yes, one person twisted his right arm and others started beating him up. Despite repeated requests, the auto-driver refused to stop the vehicle,” said his friend. He said, “They pushed him out of the auto and rushed away. On reaching the college at 11 am, I met him in the college and accompanied by one of the teachers we took him to the Sohana Civil Hospital from where he was taken to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16. His shoulder is dislocated.”

 Kharar DSP Deepkamal Singh said, “We were informed in the evening about a student from Kahsmir being assaulted. When the SHO went there to record his statement, he was told that Weqas was undergoing treatment since morning and that he told doctors that he had fallen from the stairs. When we checked his medical reports, we found that he was right and that he had fallen off the stairs.”

 Asked about his statement in the medical report, Weqas said he got scared and didn’t want his parents to know about the incident. “My parents worry a lot and I didn’t want them to get scared. Also, I want to come back and study here, so I brushed the incident under the carpet.  However, somehow, my X-ray and pictures were leaked, so I decided to come out and talk about it,” he replied.