2 Kashmiri fruit vendors beaten in Lucknow; 4 arrested

Two fruit vendors from Kashmir were allegedly assaulted in a busy market in full public view by members of a saffron outfit in the state capital.

Acting swiftly the police arrested four persons, including the main accused, identified as Bajarang Sonker, who was an office bearer of Vishwa Hindu Dal, a little known saffron group.

According to the police sources here, Sonker and some other members of the outfit caught hold of the Kashmiri fruit sellers in the busy Daliganj market in the state capital on Wednesday evening and asked them to show identification papers. On being shown the Aadhar cards, the saffron activists punched them and also hit them with a stick.

The attackers left after being challenged by some local people, sources said.

As the video of their assault went viral on the social networking sites, Lucknow police chief Kalanidhi Naithani intervened and got an FIR registered in this connection. The victims said that they were targeted as they hailed from Kashmir. ''Go back to Kashmir...what are you doing here?'' the attackers told the victims.

Four persons, including Bajarang, were arrested, police said.

Irked over the arrest, scores of saffron workers staged a demonstration inside Hasanganj police station demanding their release.

Kashmiri students were assaulted in some parts of Uttar Pradesh after the terror attack in Pulwama in which 49 CRPF jawans had been martyred.