Two persons, including a mentally-challenged man, were mistaken and attacked by mobs for being so-called braid-choppers in Kashmir on Friday.
A police spokesman said the police saved a mentally-challenged person when a mob was trying to set him ablaze in Sopore's Fruit Mandi, 55-km-north of Srinagar.
“A police party rushed to the spot and found a mob beating one person ruthlessly. The miscreants had also burnt some grass and were trying to set it on fire. Some miscreants were trying to run a tractor over him,” a police statement said.
The victim was identified as Wasim Ahmad Tantray, a resident of Shakwara. “The victim was rushed to a hospital where his condition is stated to be critical,” said the police. Police have registered an FIR in the incident.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a senior government official was mistaken as braid-chopper in Pulwama’s Pampore. “The officer was beaten up but was managed to escape the spot,” said an eyewitness. The police have not confirmed the incident so far.