Kashmiri youth’s death in Raj not hate crime: Police

Kashmiri youth's death in Raj not hate crime: Police

Jaipur/Srinagar: In an incident which the Kashmir police denied as a hate crime, a 19-year-old Kashmiri teenager died on Thursday night after a scuffle at a wedding ceremony in Jaipur. The Jaipur police said one person has been arrested in the case.

Ghulam Mohideen alias Basit, a resident of Kupwara in Kashmir, had sustained a head injury in a fight on February 4, officials said. He died on Thursday night at SMS Hospital in Jaipur where he was undergoing treatment.

Basit, hailing from Kunan village of Kupwara worked as a caterer at Harmada in Jaipur.

Contradicting reports in a section of the media, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara Ambarkar Shriram Dinakar told IANS: “This is not a case of hate crime.”

“It was a case of rivalry between two catering agencies.” The victim had recently left his catering agency in Jaipur and joined a new one.

Some of the family members have gone to Rajasthan to bring home the body.

Police have arrested Aditya, a resident of Delhi on murder charges and Basit’s body has been handed over to his family members after conducting a post mortem on Friday, Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Shrivastav said.

He said Aditya had asked Basit not to tap the glass of a car following which a fight broke out between the two.

He said a complaint was lodged by Sufita, Basit’s friend and a resident of Kashmir, on Thursday in Harmada police station.

The complaint mentioned that a scuffle was reported on February 4 during a wedding ceremony between Basit and Aditya, both engaged in catering work.

Aditya had allegedly punched Basit in the head following which he started vomiting and was admitted to SMS Hospital.

Doctors said Basit suffered a head injury that required a surgery.