Minor Kashmiri hawker assaulted in Dehradun

Dehradun police on Thursday (January 29, 2026) arrested a 50-year-old shopkeeper for allegedly assaulting a 17-year-old Kashmiri shawl-seller.

The victim, Mohd Tavish, sustained multiple injuries, including a fractured arm, in the assault. While his cousin Mohd Danish escaped with minor injuries.

According to an FIR on the complaint of the victim’s brother, the duo had approached the shopkeeper to buy snacks. “Even after they had asked multiple times, the shopkeeper did not respond to them at first. But later, he brought chips from inside the shop. By then, my brothers had decided to buy snacks from some other shop and had picked up their bags of shawls. Since they were speaking in Kashmiri, the shopkeeper became angry and started abusing them,” the complainant told The Hindu.

When the arguments over the usage of Kashmiri language escalated, the accused picked up a bat and thrashed the youths, the complainant added. In the FIR, the boys have alleged that the shopkeeper had used communal and religious slurs against them.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Dehradun, Ajay Singh said that an FIR has been filed against the accused for “intentional insults designed to provoke a breach of peace or incite a crime and voluntarily causing hurt to someone”.

“The medical check-up of the youth was conducted, and their statements have been recorded. The police are investigating all aspects,” he added.

This is not the first incident of on Kashamiri hawkers in Uttarakhand. Similar attacks were reported in May 2025 and 2024 as well.