4 held for beating up Kashmiri street vendors in Lucknow

Four members of a little-known Hindu outfit were arrested on Thursday for allegedly beating up two Kashmiri street vendors in Lucknow on Wednesday even as some passerby tried to rescue them.

The attack came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 23 urged people to ensure the safety of Kashmiris amid a series of attacks on them across the country. The attacks followed the February 14 car bomb attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force men dead in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. Hundreds of Kashmiris were forced to flee cities such as Dehradun and Ambala amid threats of violence.

The four — Bajrang Sonkar, Amar Kumar, Anirudh Kumar, and Himanshu Garg — were arrested after a video showing the saffron kurta clad men thrashing Abdul Salam Naik and Afzal Naik on Daliganj Bridge in Lucknow’s Hasanganj locality on Wednesday went viral. The four belong to Vishwa Hindu Dal.

One of the attackers is seen thrashing the two with a stick and using abusive language in the video. Another video shows some passerby rescuing one of the vendors from the attackers.

Lucknow’s senior police superintendent Kalanidhi Naithani said the four were initially booked for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and provoking breach of peace. He said later stringent charges related to promoting enmity on grounds of religion, caste, and region, attempt to murder were also slapped on them.

Naithani said some passerby filmed the attackers, which helped the police in tracing them. He added Sonkar faces 12 other criminal cases, including that of loot, theft, and murder.

Uttar Pradesh police’s director general (law and order), Anand Kumar, said the police would ensure the vendors get medical care and compensation for their losses. The two have been assured of security to carry out their business. Kumar called the attack unfortunate and added steps would be taken to ensure such incidents do not reoccur.

Abdul Salam Naik and Afzal Naik, who are from Kulgam in Kashmir, thanked the police for the action against the attackers. “We are happy that police have arrested the men who beat us up. We met… [Naithani] and he said the police are with us,” Salam said in a video the Lucknow police released on Thursday.

The Vishwa Hindu Dal remained defiant. The group’s members gathered outside Hasanganj police station and shouted slogans demanding the release of the four accused. Vishwa Hindu Dal founder, Ambuj Nigam, justified the attack while demanding the release of the four.

Nigam founded the Vishwa Hindu Dal eight months ago, according to people aware of initial probe into the attack.

Naithani said the role of other members of the group would also be probed and promised action accordingly.

In Srinagar, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said Kashmiris were being targeted, harassed and threatened without any reason and wondered whether they were considered a part of India or not. “…[the] dry fruit sellers, who have nothing to do with politics and were out to earn their livelihood, were beaten. They had done no wrong. They had not posted any message on Facebook or WhatsApp, they were just on road,” Abdullah said, referring to earlier attacks on Kashmiris including for posts on the social media.Another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said the attackers showed no fear and uploaded the video.

First Published: Mar 07, 2019 23:03 IST