Some Kashmiri traders were allegedly thrashed and forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram” and “Pakistan Murdabad” by a group of local residents in Ranchi on Saturday, the second such incident reported in the Jharkhand capital in the past one month, police said.

One Riyaz Ahmed Wani, a Kashmiri trader, lodged a complaint with the Doranda Police Station in Ranchi on Thursday afternoon accusing some locals of thrashing him and his fellow Kashmiris, police said, adding that the police have apprehended at least three suspects and were interrogating them.

The officer in-charge of Doranda Police Station, Siddeshwar Mahtha, said that investigations were on. “The complainant has accused some locals of thrashing him and his friends, and forcing them to chant Jai Sri Ram and Pakistan Murdabad. This is only the version of the complainant. We will get to know more about the motive behind the attack after interrogating the apprehended suspects,” said Mahtha.

The three suspects apprehended in this case are Deepak Jha, Tarun Kumar and Arvind Kumar, all residents of colonies close to Sujata Chowk in Ranchi, said police.

Earlier on November 12, a similar incident was reported in Doranda where a few Kashmiri traders were allegedly beaten up by some locals and asked to return to their native state if they do not chant “Jai Sri Ram” and “Pakistan Murdabad”.

Nearly 300 traders, mostly from Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, frequent Ranchi and other parts of Jharkhand to sell woollen garments between October and March every year. This year, many of these traders have complained of repeated attempts at harassment by some locals during their stay in Ranchi.

Some Kashmiri traders have said that many more such incidents occurred in different parts of the city since October. They have also admitted that this was the first time that they were being targeted and harassed in Jharkhand.

A police official said jumping to conclusions only on the basis of accusations by a few men was not the right way to go about such cases. A thorough investigation, he said, was needed in order to find the real motive behind such attacks.