The complainant, Mudasir Rasool, is a trainee with the National Skill Development Corporation’s Udaan project, a central government scheme for J&K youth residing outside the state.
A 28-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir was allegedly beaten up by employees of a private company in Noida Monday afternoon, after he had an argument with one of them.
The complainant, Mudasir Rasool, is a trainee with the National Skill Development Corporation’s Udaan project, a central government scheme for J&K youth residing outside the state.
Rasool claimed that after the incident, he sought help from Noida Police, Delhi Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs, but received no response.
Rasool said, “I called on the helpline launched recently by the Ministry of Home Affairs for J&K youth living outside the state. I was told that the helpline was only for J&K students who faced problems while applying for admissions and scholarships. I was asked to call the Noida police control room (PCR). When I called the PCR, I was told there was no nodal officer for J&K citizens. When I called Delhi Police’s helpline, they said the case was not under their jurisdiction. Finally, I went to the police station near Noida Sector 70 to file a complaint.”
Rasool said police “arrested one out of the three attackers”, but kept him “waiting at the police station for almost four hours.” “One police officer told me I must have been partly responsible for the incident and he knew what Kashmiris are like,” said Rasool.
However, Noida Police maintained that the three alleged attackers and Rasool had “reached a compromise” by Monday evening.
Senior MHA officials maintained that the helpline was not only meant for students but anyone from J&K who was living in another state. Sanjoy Roy, MHA director (media), said, “I am not aware of this incident. There might be some teething problems in operating the helpline. We are going to look into this case.”
Roy also maintained that he was part of the Udaan project and his contact details were available with all trainees of the project. “He could have contacted me directly,” he added.
On why he was “beaten up” by the three men in the first place, Rasool said he got embroiled in an argument with one of them earlier at the Noida office of a private company, which was associated with the Udaan project.
“I had an argument with an employee… he was looking over the documents… he kept me and a friend waiting for over two hours… When we approached him, he shouted at us. He said ‘this is how you Kashmiris behave wherever you go’. At that point, another employee intervened and apologised to us,” said Rasool.
He added, “While I was leaving the office, the employee who had shouted at us earlier attacked me near the gate. He was accompanied by two others. I sustained injuries on my shoulders, hands and legs. They said that they would get bricks to beat me up since ‘that is how you behave in Kashmir’.”
Rasool claimed that he managed to get away and rush to his paying guest accommodation, where he stayed for the next three hours. “I was scared for my safety so I stayed home. Later, I realised that I should approach the authorities and inform them about the incident before something worse happened,” he said.
But Noida Police claimed that Rasool had signed a document about the incident Monday evening. “The document states that there was a small argument among some colleagues and the issue has been resolved,” said Pankaj Pant, station house officer, Phase 3 police station, Noida.
Confirming that he had signed such a document, Rasool said, “At that time, I did not see a way out. I had been waiting for nearly four hours… I was scared for my safety.”
Gautam Budh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Yadav said he was not aware of the incident, but added, “If the complainant has been made to reach an agreement with the accused, I will investigate the matter and necessary action against the guilty will be taken.”
The private company could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts
