Lucknow, March 7: Three dry fruits vendors from Kashmir, who were assaulted by saffron-clad people in Lucknow, said they were called terrorists and asked to show their Aadhaar card during the attack. The assault took place on Wednesday when a group of saffron-robed youths came out of a car and pounced on the three Kashmiri men who were selling dry fruits at Daliganj Bridge.

"These men just descended on us. They started beating us and calling us terrorists. We have been coming for 20 years. Something like this has never happened with us before," one of the dry fruit sellers was quoted as saying. "They said we are terrorists. You sell items here and throw stones there. They started thrashing us. They asked for our Aadhaar cards. We showed it to them," he narrated the ordeal.

One person was arrested after the video of the attack on Kashmiri vendors went viral on social media. Bajrang Sonkar, who was arrested, is a member of Vishwa Hindu Dal and has a dozen criminal cases registered against him including one of murder, Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani said. Three other attackers who are on the run are identified as Amar, Himanshu and Anirrudh.

As seen in the video, the Kashmiri men were beaten up mercilessly and their wares were thrown around. It was only after someone called the police that the Kashmiris were saved. Two of the injured vendors went away before the police arrived there but one Kashmiri, identified as Afzal, was taken to the police station. Afzal was questioned for over an hour before an acquaintance vouched for him. Nation Angry After Pulwama Attack, But No Kashmiri Student Attacked: HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the brutality. "Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in Jammu and Kashmir than videos like these," he said in a series of tweets along with the video post.  "Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons and then try to sell the idea of 'atoot ang' (unbreakable part), it simply won't fly."

Omar called upon Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to punish "those guilty of this assault". Singh represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha. (With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2019 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).