3 Kashmiri men thrashed by saffron-clad men in Uttar Pradesh; 4 arrested

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 7

Lathi-wielding youths in saffron shirts beat up three Kashmiri men selling dry fruits at Daliganj Bridge here yesterday, accusing them of pelting stones in Kashmir.

The police have arrested four persons. While Bajrang Sonkar, facing trial in a murder case, was arrested last night, Himanshu Garg, Anirudh Kumar and Amar Mishra were nabbed today.

Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP, said the accused were members of Vishwa Hindu Dal Trust, run by one Ambuj Nigam. The victims belonged to Kulgam.

A video clip of the beating has gone viral. It purportedly shows a few men alighting from their car and confronting the Kashmiris, who used to sell dry fruits at the spot every year. The accused allegedly beat up the victims with sticks, asking them to show their Aadhaar cards.

While two of them manage to escape, the third Kashmiri is brutally assaulted till a passerby comes to his rescue, asking the attackers why they were beating him up.

Sonkar has around a dozen criminal cases, including of murder, loot and under the Arms Act, pending against him till 2011, said the police.

Meanwhile, Mushtaque, a member of the Kashmir Arts Association, said this was not the first incident of public beating up of Kashmiris in the city.

“A similar incident had occurred in Gomti Nagar a few days ago where two Kashmiri shawl sellers were having tea at a roadside stall,” he said. No case was filed by the victims who were terrified and more than happy to have saved their life, he said, adding that since the Pulwama incident, the business of people from Kashmir had suffered. — TNS