Dehradun: A 50-year-old man was detained on Wednesday in connection with the alleged assault on an 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl seller in the Vikasnagar area of Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district, police said, adding that efforts are on to identify the second accused.
Danish (18) and his younger brother Tabiz (17), who were selling Kashmiri shawls in the area, were allegedly attacked on Wednesday, in-charge of Vikasnagar police station Bhaskar Sah said.
“The younger brother has also sustained minor injuries in the assault. Investigation has begun,” Sah said.
One of the accused has been detained, while investigations are underway to identify the second accused.
“Police have registered a case against Sanjay Yadav (50) and another unknown person under Sections 117(2) (voluntarily causes grievous hurt) and 352 (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Vikasnagar police station. Yadav has been taken into custody,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun Ajai Singh said.
The incident drew strong criticism from Kashmir-based organisations.
Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said the matter was taken up with Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Deepam Seth.
“Following the brutal assault on an 18-year-old Kashmiri boy, who hails from Kupwara area of Kashmir, in the Vikasnagar area of Uttarakhand, we raised the matter with the DGP. He assured us that the authorities have taken strong and serious note of the incident,” Khuehami said.
Khuehami said that Danish’s left arm has been fractured and he sustained serious head injuries after being allegedly struck with iron rods. “He was first taken to a local hospital and later referred to Doon Hospital in Dehradun,” he added.
He alleged that the youth was first questioned about his identity before he was “punched repeatedly, while other family members were also dragged, slapped and attacked with iron rods.”
The office of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also reacted earlier in the day to the incident through a social media post on X, saying, “Chief Minister spoke with the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, regarding the incident of assault on a young Kashmiri shawl seller in Uttarakhand and urged him to take strict action against the perpetrators. Dhami assured that strict action, including registration of an FIR, would be taken in the matter and safety of J&K residents will be ensured.”–(HT)
