2 vendors from J&K beaten up in train

NEW DELHI: Two shawl vendors from Jammu and Kashmir were allegedly thrashed on a moving train in Delhi by two unidentified men while they were travelling to Sampla in Haryana for business on Tuesday.

The men were carrying three bags full of Kashmiri shawls and suits. Following the assault, they deboarded the train at Nangloi railway station, leaving their bags in the train. The Delhi railway police said that they have registered a case and are trying to identify and nab the attackers.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat, who assisted the injured Kashmiri men in approaching police and filing an FIR, said, “Two men who claimed to be from the armed forces abused these Kashmiris and said you are the people who killed our men and started beating them. Around 15 more passengers joined the two men in assaulting them. The attackers were also hurling abuses. They were so concerned about their safety that they deboarded the train and left their belongings worth around ₹2 lakh.”

Cases of assaults on Kashmiris have been reported from various parts of the country following the Pulwama terror attack claiming lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

Deputy commissioner of police (railways and metro) Dinesh Kumar Gupta, however, said that it was not clear that the attackers were from armed forces since they were in plain clothes. According to Gupta, the two Kashmiri men, who live in north Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla area, boarded a local train from Sarai Rohilla railway station to reach Haryana.

Police said that the complainants told them that two unidentified men cornered them and accused them of being “stone-pelters” from Kashmir. When the Kashmiri men objected, the two men began assaulting them. As the train stopped at the Nangloi railway station, the Kashmiri men deboarded and returned to their home. “They later contacted Karat through their friends in Kashmir. The duo first went to a hospital and got their medical examination done. They later approached the railway police and filed a complaint. We have registered a case of voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restrain and threatening and are looking for the attackers,” said Gupta.