PATHANKOT: A group of Gujjars (nomadic people, mostly from J&K and Himachal Pradesh, indulged in milk trade), allegedly attempted to set ablaze three persons of Merra Bhadharali village here of Pathankot district after the latter accused the Gujjars of stealing their buffaloes.The three persons, identified as Pooran Chand, Balwant Singh and Balbir Singh, who were rescued by the villagers, sustained minor injuries and were admitted to hospital for treatment.A local resident of village, who did not wish to be quoted, informed TOI that two buffaloes of a local woman had gone missing, following which she reported the incident to Sujanpur police. When the milch animals were not traced, the woman along with other villagers went to the Gujjars' dera where they had heated verbal spat with the Gujjars.On Wednesday night, the alleged victim trio went back to the Gujjars' dera and entered into a squabble with them. The three of them were overpowered by the accused, who tied them to a heap of straw and put it on fire.The local villagers got wink of the incident and rescued all three of them following which the miscreants escaped to adjoining Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir Sources informed that villagers also staged protest against police for its inaction when a police team reached to inspect the site.SHO, police station Sujanpur, Iqbal Singh admitted that there was a scuffle between the Gujjars and local villagers. When asked about an attempt to set ablaze three persons alive , he replied that police had registered a case on the statement of three persona and would get to know the veracity of their claims after investigations.

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