Assault on Punjab tourist, Spanish wife in HP triggers safety concerns

Amritsar: Kanwaljit Singh and his Spanish wife were allegedly subjected to a brutal assault by a crowd at Khajjiar in Dalhousie town of Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district.
Expressing fear and apprehension, Kanwaljit Singh, hailing from Amritsar, and his wife have appealed against visiting Dalhousie. They are also reassessing their decision to relocate to Punjab and pursue business ventures in light of the incident.
Kawaljit Singh was claimed to have been in a coma for two days and also fractured his arm in the incident.He was discharged from a local hospital on Saturday.
Recounting the incident where he along with his brother and wife had visited Khajjiar, Kanwaljit mentioned having an argument with a parking contractor after which the contractor allegedly called a group of over 100 people who physically assaulted him without any provocation.
He said a few policemen intervened and dispersed the aggressors using batons and escorted them to the hospital. However, he claimed that the police did not register a case and instead deleted the videos of the incident recorded by his wife on her mobile phone. Kanwaljit claims to have lived in Spain for over 25 years and recently closed his business there to invest in Punjab.
He said his goal was to teach Punjabi youth how they could earn money using internet-enabled mobile phones. “This incident has shocked us and also exposed the govt’s claims of providing a safe and secure environment for investors in India. We have to reconsider our decision,” he said in utter disappointment. Kawaljit’s wife said she was scared to see his husband and his brother surrounded by an aggressive mob.
“I had a panic attack when I saw blood coming out of my husband’s head,” she said, adding that it was their earnest appeal to everyone to not visit Dalhousie since it was not safe there.
Senior superintendent of police, Chamba, Abhishek Yadav said the incident happened on June 11. “ When they were taken to the police post, they refused to file a formal complaint with the police and instead gave a statement to the police that they neither wanted to undergo medical examination, nor legal proceedings,” said Yadav.
The SSP also claimed that he had come to know that they (the HP tourists from Amritsar) were practicing palmistry and reading hands, which had led to an argument that had escalated into the incident.