LUCKNOW: Two dry fruit vendors from Kashmir were attacked and thrashed in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow by a group of men belonging to a fringe right-wing group yesterday, NDTV reported.
One of the men had shared a video of the assault.
The incident took place at around 5 pm yesterday in Daliganj in central Lucknow. The men who assaulted the traders can be heard in mobile videos saying that are doing it because they are from Kashmir
Several local residents of Lucknow intervened and asked the men to stop further assault of the two vendors. “Don’t take law into your own hands. Call the police,” one the locals can be seen saying.
The Kashmiri men have been selling dry fruits in Lucknow for many years.
A case of rioting and breach of peace has been registered and one person, Bajrang Sonkar, has been arrested, the police said.
However, the main accused, who claims to be the president of the Vishwa Hindu Dal, has not been arrested and has been posting on Facebook, claiming that it was he and his men who carried out the attack. The video of the attack that he shared on Facebook has been taken down.
“This is a very unfortunate and one-off incident which has happened. We will crackdown on such incidents with the entire force of the law. Nobody is above the law and nobody can target innocent citizens like this…. The strongest possible action will be taken to target innocent Kashmiris,” Uttar Pradesh Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told NDTV.
