Mobs in J&K run riot over braid cutting, attack 2 men

Shock, anger and outrage gripped Kashmir Valley after a frenzied mob mistook a mentally challenged man as a braid chopper and tried to burn him alive and run a tractor over him in the apple-rich township of Sopore. Also, a vigilante group tried to drown a devotee in the Dal Lake near the revered Dargah Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar.

Rising braid-chopping incidents have given fresh lease of life to separatists who have called for a Kashmir bandh on Saturday. They have asked traders, transporters and common people to suspend their routine activities.

Wasim Ahmad Tantray, a mentally challenged person, suffered serious wounds when a vigilante mob stripped and ruthlessly thrashed him on the pretext of being a braid chopper at Fruit Mandi area in Sopore.

The police said the mob also burnt hay and tried to immolate Tantray alive even as some people tried to run a tractor over him. Cops immediately rushed to the spot and rescued him in an injured condition. He was rushed to a local hospital from where he was shifted to Srinagar for treatment.

The police said his condition was critical. Later a four-minute video of the barbarism was posted on social media and circulated on WhatsApp groups.

Senior Superintendent …read more