Paramilitary soldiers stand guard in Srinagar after protests following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. (Photo: EPA)

RANCHI: A youth of Kashmiri origin was on Thursday allegedly physically assaulted by a fellow passenger from Jharkhand on board the New Delhi- Ranchi Garib Rath Express after a heated debate on the ensuing tensions in the valley.

Fellow passengers said MS Baig (32), who was travelling to Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh from New Delhi in G-14 coach (PNR 2120255986), was hurled abuses and later beaten by an unidentified passenger from Garhwa in Jharkhand after the former reportedly spoke in support of the ‘Azadi Movement’ that is raging in the valley following Hizbul Mujahideen operative Burhan Wani’s encounter by the Indian armed forces early this month.

While Baig could not be reached till late Thursday evening, fellow passengers said the victim was slapped after he reportedly said ‘The Indian Armed Forces will be driven away from Kashmir by Pakistani forces like dogs’.

“We were in the next coupe when we heard heated arguments. The victim was heard saying that the Indian Army will be driven away from Kashmir by Pakistani forces like dogs,” Jagmohan Singh, a fellow passenger said over phone from the train. “He was also reportedly saying northern India will be in trouble if Kashmir stops providing water,” the passenger said. However, no formal complaint was lodged with the Railway Police Force, the passengers claimed.

