A Kashmiri man was assaulted and called a “terrorist” by a mob in Hegde Nagar area of Bangalore on Monday following which the police lodged an FIR and started investigations.
Taseer Mufti, a Srinagar resident, was hospitalised after the assault, said his wife Tabasum, who hails from Bangalore.
Talking to media over phone from Bangalore, Tabasum said that a local contractor who had constructed their apartment beat her husband after they asked him for some repair work.
“We have some property in Bangalore on which we were building a flat. We had asked the local contractor to make some repairs in the work he had done. Instead of doing the repairs or paying us for our losses, he brought a mob with him and assaulted my husband and called him a terrorist,” said Tabasum.
She said the contractor threatened to kill her husband and told him that “no one will do anything about it”.
“He had brought over a dozen goons with him. Just because my husband is a Kashmiri, does that mean people can assault him, give him death threats and get away with it,” she asked while accusing the local police of being lax towards the accused.
Tabasum said that her husband who was hit with a large wooden plank by the accused was admitted at Ambedkar Medical College and hospital, RT Nagar Post.
“He was assaulted by a large wooden plank and has received injuries on his back and left arm,” she said.
When contacted, Circle Inspector, Kathnur Police station, Subramaniam Swami said that it was a local issue between the owner and the contractor.
“There is no angle of any targeted attack on Kashmiri people. This was a local dispute and we have lodged an FIR for the assault,” Swami said adding no arrests have been made so far.
