KOLKATA/KRISHNAGAR: A 27-year-old Kashmiri shawl trader, identified by the police as Jawed Ahmed Khan, was abused, assaulted and forced to chant “Vande Mataram” on Monday evening in Nadia’s Taherpur prompting police to rescue him and put him up in an undisclosed safe-house in Krishnanagar. One person has been arrested in this connection and several others have been detained for questioning.The now-viral video of the shawl trader bleeding from his mouth and nose and cowering in fear prompted former Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah to speak to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the party’s national spokesperson Derek O’Brien. Abdullah later took to Twitter say, “the culprits have been identified and strongest possible action has been assured” and thanked the chief minister for the swift response. Derek refused to comment.According to Taherpur municipality’s ward number 9 councillor Dipankar Chakraborty, the victim has been staying in a rented accommodation here along with other Kashmiris . They have a shop adjacent to the rented house.“From what we heard, a group of 50 people had come there around 7 pm on Tuesday and attacked them. This person, it appears, was alone at that point. Several other locals tried to save him and informed the police. Cops reached the spot and rescued him,” he said. The municipality chairperson Babu Roy confirmed the incident but could not clarify whether the attackers were “outsiders” or locals. Nadia SP Rupesh Kumar said, “The victim was rescued. We asked him where he wanted to stay and if required, he will be provided security. He wanted to stay in Krishnanagar with other traders from Kashmir. We have escorted him there. The place is also being kept under watch.” Kumar said, “We had asked the victim to lodge an FIR. He did not. So, we have started a suo motu case and have arrested one person today. Further investigations are on.”Police sources said the trader has told them that he is from Soibugh in Budgam. He has been coming to Bengal for over a decade and has never faced a problem like this. Jawed’s brother Mehraj ud Din, who was also with him, however escaped unhurt. Police sources said that in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack they had shut down their shops and rarely ventured out.The Monday evening attack came a day after CRPF martyr Sudip Biswas was cremated in Tehatta’s Hanspukuria around 60 kilometres away from Taherpur. Biswas was among those killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

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