Kashmiri Boy Beaten to Death By Co-Workers in Jaipur, One Arrested

SRINAGAR –  A 17-year-old boy, Basit Khan, who was doing a part-time job in Jaipur to support his family was thrashed by a mob on the night of 5 February. Khan succumbed to his injuries at 8:30 pm on the night of 6 February and, by the afternoon of 7 February, his body on the way to Kashmir in a private ambulance.

The victim has been identified as Ghulam Mohi u Din Khan alias Basit Khan a resident of Kunan-Poshpura in Kupwara district of Kashmir Valley. He worked as a caterer with an event management company in the city.

Sahil Rafiq, friend of Basit told Kashmir Observer  that on the night of February 5 while returning from work in a van (Tata Magic), a group of boys from the other carting team thrashed Basit brutally. “Basit wanted to sit in the car as he was tired. This enraged a boy from Mumbai and he held on to Basit’s collar. They started beating him up. One of the boys, Aditya, was repeatedly hitting Basit on the head,” Rafiq said.

Rafiq said that when Basit reached his flat, he complained of severe headache after which he was taken to hospital. There he fell unconscious and went into coma after which he underwent a surgery on his head.

Rafiq said the doctors operated on him but said his chances of survival were meagre. He died at on 6 February.

He says the coordinator of the boys who thrashed Basit threatened them with the same fate if they didn’t withdraw the complaint.

“Maslook, who is the coordinator of the accused boys threatened us if we didn’t withdrew the case,” Sahil said adding that “Police should arrest them immediately”

Basit belonged to a poor family from Kupwara and was the lone bread winner of the family. His father died a year ago. He was the oldest in the house, with three younger sisters and a brother. “The family has had to pay Rs 30,000 to get the body to Kashmir. They are very poor and he had come here to work to help the family financially. He was in class 11 and was doing part-time work at an events company to make some money.”Rafiq told Kashmir Observer on Phone.

He used to earn 400 rs per event and would sent money to his family, Rafiq said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara Ambarkar Shriram Dinakar told news agency IANS “It was a case of rivalry between two catering agencies.” The victim had recently left his catering agency in Jaipur and joined a new one.

Police have arrested Aditya, a resident of Delhi on murder charges and Basit’s body has been handed over to his family members after conducting a post mortem on Friday, Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Shrivastav said.

He said Aditya had asked Basit not to tap the glass of a car following which a fight broke out between the two.

He said a complaint was lodged by Sufiyan, Basit’s friend and a resident of Kashmir, on Thursday in Harmada police station.

The complaint mentioned that a scuffle was reported on February 4 during a wedding ceremony between Basit and Aditya, both engaged in catering work.

Aditya had allegedly punched Basit in the head following which he started vomiting and was admitted to SMS Hospital.

Doctors said Basit suffered a head injury that required a surgery.

The incident has triggered shock waves across Kashmiri community living in different Indian cities. There have been many instances of attacks on Kashmiris living in Indian cities and town in recent past.

Back in Kupwara, the family and friends of the victim and the residents of Kunan have assembled at SP office demanding local police intervene and help the family retrieve the dead body.

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