Kashmiri vendors thrashed in Lucknow, accused arrested after video goes viral

Two Kashmiri vendors, who were selling dry fruits on a busy Lucknow road, were thrashed by a group of men belonging to a right-wing organisation. The perpetrators filmed the assault on their mobile phones. In a video shared by one of the accused, they are heard saying that they did it because they belonged to Kashmir. One of the accused has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police after the video of the incident went viral.

The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Daliganj area of Central Lucknow when a handful of saffron-clad men started beating the traders. Seeing no police on spot, the bystanders came to the rescue of the traders and stopped the group from further assault.

Later, the police registered a case of rioting and breach of peace and arrested one of the accused men. "A case has been filed in the Hazratganj police station. A search is on for the accused. An investigation will be done," police officer Amit Kumar said.

However, the main accused, president of Vishwa Hindu Dal, has not been arrested yet and continues to post updates on social media. Following the outrage, the video of the incident has been taken down.

After the February 14 Pulwama attack, there have been several reports of people from Kashmir being attacked by right-wing mob across the country. The attacks prompted the Supreme Court to issue directions to all the states and union territories to ensure the safety of Kashmiris.

Police in all states must take prompt action to prevent "incidents of assault, threat, social boycott and such other egregious acts against the Kashmiris including students...," a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, had said in the order.

After specific incidents brought to the top court's notice, notices were issued to 11 states - Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra.