Srinagar: Police, in a statement on Friday said that a person who had gone to offer Fajr (morning prayers) to the Hazratbal Shrine, was mistaken as a braid chopper. People, according to the police, tried to kill him by drowning him in the Dal Lake.
A police statement said that a protest was held at Hazratbal over the alleged overnight braid chopping incident in the locality. The protesters comprising of men, women and children were sloganeering against the incidents of alleged braid chopping in the Valley in general and Dargah in particular.
The police personnel without using any force persuaded the protesters to disperse and after lot of hectic efforts the protesters were dispersed.
However, some persons on reaching the banks of Dal Lake caught hold of one person (name withheld) who had come to visit the Hazratbal mosque for prayers and accused him of being a braid chopper, the statement said.
“The person tried hard to satisfy the people around him that he is not any braid chopper but had merely come to the shrine for prayers,” the police said.
The statement further added, “But the (people) did not listen to him and accused him of being a braid chopper. The protestors turned violent and got frenzied and in the meantime people from Dargah area in large numbers reached to the spot and started beating him ruthlessly. The “violent mob” also tried to drown him in the waters of Dal Lake just to get his confession of being a braid chopper.”
“During the rescue violent mob pelted stones on the police party, however, police with the help of some respectable citizens was able to save the innocent person from being lynched,” the police said.
The statement also informed that a case under relevant provisions of law has been registered and investigation taken up.
Earlier a mentally unstable man was thrashed in Sopore area as he was suspected to be a braid chopper. The police, in a statement said that the person was beaten ruthlessly and the mob tried to set him ablaze.
