On Thursday, a person allegedly beat up two traders of Kashmir while attempting to force them to shout “Jai Shri Ram” and “Pakistan murdabad” in Hathikhana colony under the Doranda police station in Ranchi, The Times of India reported.
The victims Bilal Wani (35) and Sabir Batt (36) are both residents of Pahalgam police station area of Jammu Kashmir. Wani has lodged a complaint with Doranda police station in this regard.
The report says that the police have nabbed the accused identified as Raj Kishore alias Kishori, a resident of Pathal Road in Doranda.
As per the report, Wani said when he, along with Batt, reached the Hathikhana colony, Kishori tried to force them to shout “Jai Shri Ram” and “Pakistan murdabad”. He said the accused started assaulting them when they refused and they were saved only when local people intervened.
Wani also said that similar assaults have occurred against other Kashmiri youths several times in the recent past. The police sent both of them to the local hospital for adequate treatment.
“As soon as we started displaying our products before a customer in Doranda the accused approached us and asked to shout the slogans if we wanted to stay here. He started hitting us with his fist and leg while asking his brother for a gun to shoot me,” Wani was quoted by The Times of India as saying.
Wani said he is also a citizen of this country and has all the rights to stay wherever he wants. He mentioned that he has been visiting Ranchi for the past 20 years to sell woollens.
Ranchi senior superintendent of police Surindra Jha said, “The accused in the case Raj Kishore alias Kishori has been arrested. He is a drug addict. The police are sensitive towards safety of all residents, including people visiting this place.”