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JK Students Association says Uttarakhand Police acted after intervention by senior officials; Kashmiri shawl seller was threatened and attacked

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A police case has been registered and all accused, including a Bajrang Dal leader, have been arrested in connection with the assault on a Kashmiri shawl seller in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association said on Thursday.

The Association said the action followed when it agitated the matter with the senior police authorities after the incident triggered concern among Kashmiri traders working in the state.

According to JKSA, the Uttarakhand Director General of Police confirmed that a case had been formally registered, while Inspector General of Police, Kumaon Range, Riddhim Agarwal, informed the Association that arrests had been made after police took cognisance of the assault and alleged death threats.

National Convenor of JKSA, Nasir Khuehami, said the FIR, numbered 517/25, was lodged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to assault, intimidation and criminal threats. Police teams were formed, raids were conducted and legal proceedings were initiated under relevant provisions of the Police Act, he said, adding that all those involved have been taken into custody.

The main accused has been identified as Ankur Singh, a Bajrang Dal leader, along with other workers of the outfit, the Association quoted Udham Singh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Manikant Mishra as saying.

The victim, Bilal Ahmed Ganie, a resident of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, has been working as a seasonal shawl seller in Uttarakhand for nearly a decade, the Association said. JKSA alleged that he was assaulted, threatened with death and forced to leave the area, an incident it said spread fear among other Kashmiri traders in the region.

The Association said the Union Home Ministry and the Uttarakhand state government have taken serious note of the case and conveyed that violence or intimidation against Kashmiri traders will not be tolerated.

“We have received assurances from the highest quarters of the Government of India that such acts of violence and intimidation against Kashmiri shawl sellers will not be tolerated at any cost” the association said in a statement on Friday morning.

Welcoming the police action, JKSA reiterated its demand for strict and exemplary punishment for those involved, saying such incidents undermine the rule of law and the country’s democratic values.