CHANDIGARH: Two Kashmiri students were beaten up by locals in Haryana's Mahendergarh town on Friday afternoon allegedly after their motorcycle hit another bike. On Saturday morning, three men were arrested for the assault by the local police.

The two students, Aftab Ahmad, 23, and Amjad Ali, 22, had claimed that they were beaten up without any reason. This prompted Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti to tweet on Friday night that the authorities should act against the accused. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar then tweeted back saying the fight took place after a minor accident and that three people had already been arrested.

Ahmad and Ali are master's students studying geography at the Central University of Haryana in Mahendergarh.

Mahendergarh SP Kamaldeep Goyal told TOI that an FIR has been registered in relation with the incident and six people have been booked for assaulting the students. "Three people have been arrested but all six have been identified on the basis of CCTV footage," he said. "We will arrest the other three as well."

Police officials claimed that the two students and the locals had an argument after the accident. The locals then called their friends and allegedly had the students thrashed. The assaulters have been booked for rioting, armed with deadly weapon, unlawful assembly guilty of offence towards common object, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt.

Mahendergarh deputy commissioner (DC) Garima Mittal later met Aftab and Amjad in the university campus and assured them and other students belonging to Jammu and Kashmir that district administration would ensure their safety. She told them that they should continue with their studies without fear. She also took both students to hospital for a second medical examination.

A police control room van has also been positioned in the university campus for the safety of the students. Mittal has directed the university authorities to control the number of outsiders entering the campus and maintain a register with details of visitors.

There are around 50 Kashmiri students at the Central University. Aftab and Amjad told television channels that they registered a complaint just to ensure that such incidents don't take place in the future.

Khattar, Mehbooba tweet each other

Sharply reacting to the attack on the Kashmiri students, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tagged Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and tweeted, "shocked and disturbed to hear reports of Kashmiri students being assaulted in Mahendergarh Haryana . I urge the authorities to investigate and take strict action".

Khattar responded with, "Guilty will be punished. Incident had started with a minor collision of motorcycle of the accused. Three people have been arrested and SP is on the spot". Mehbooba immediately thanked Khattar for "prompt action".

