Uttarakhand: 50-year-old detained for assault on Kashmiri shawl seller, probe on

Danish (18) and his younger brother Tabiz (17), who were selling Kashmiri shawls in the area, were allegedly attacked on Wednesday: Police

Published on: Jan 29, 2026, 18:26:41 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Dehradun: A 50-year-old man was detained on Wednesday in connection with the alleged assault on an 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl seller in the Vikasnagar area of Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district, police said, adding that efforts are on to identify the second accused.

Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor said that Danish’s left arm has been fractured and he sustained serious head injuries after being allegedly struck with iron rods.

Danish (18) and his younger brother Tabiz (17), who were selling Kashmiri shawls in the area, were allegedly attacked on Wednesday, in-charge of Vikasnagar police station Bhaskar Sah said.

“The younger brother has also sustained minor injuries in the assault. Investigation has begun,” Sah said.

One of the accused has been detained, while investigations are underway to identify the second accused.

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“Police have registered a case against Sanjay Yadav (50) and another unknown person under Sections 117(2) (voluntarily causes grievous hurt) and 352 (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Vikasnagar police station. Yadav has been taken into custody,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun Ajai Singh said.

The incident drew strong criticism from Kashmir-based organisations.

Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said the matter was taken up with Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Deepam Seth.

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“Following the brutal assault on an 18-year-old Kashmiri boy, who hails from Kupwara area of Kashmir, in the Vikasnagar area of Uttarakhand, we raised the matter with the DGP. He assured us that the authorities have taken strong and serious note of the incident,” Khuehami said.

Khuehami said that Danish’s left arm has been fractured and he sustained serious head injuries after being allegedly struck with iron rods. “He was first taken to a local hospital and later referred to Doon Hospital in Dehradun,” he added.

He alleged that the youth was first questioned about his identity before he was “punched repeatedly, while other family members were also dragged, slapped and attacked with iron rods.”

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The office of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also reacted earlier in the day to the incident through a social media post on X, saying, “Chief Minister spoke with the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, regarding the incident of assault on a young Kashmiri shawl seller in Uttarakhand and urged him to take strict action against the perpetrators. Dhami assured that strict action, including registration of an FIR, would be taken in the matter and safety of J&K residents will be ensured.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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