‘Can’t stay here any longer’: Vendor thrashed over non-veg snacks at Gita event leaves Kolkata; returns to hometown
Times of India | 11 December 2025
By Sudipto Das & Biplab Bhattacharyya
KOLKATA: Sk Riyajul, who was assaulted and subjected to religious taunts for selling non-veg snacks at the mass recital of Gita on the Maidan last Sunday, has had enough.
The 50-year-old, who earned a living selling puffs in Kolkata for over two decades, folded up his trade and returned home to Arambag in Hooghly on Wednesday.
“The city has given me so much love, but Sunday’s incident broke my heart. I have been spending sleepless nights since. I can’t stay here any longer,” Riyajul said before boarding a bus at Esplanade for Arambag.
Riyajul’s wife Manohara Begum has been crying since seeing the video of the assault on her husband.
“We did not have dinner last night and prayed to Allah for his safe return,” she said. Their two sons — Monirulla, who is in Hyderabad, and Safiulla, who is at home — kept calling Riyajul. “They could not reach me as my phone battery ran out. My sons want me to return home,” Riyajul said.
“Yesterday, I hardly sold anything. Two cops met me near Fancy Market (in Khidderpore) around 2.30 pm and requested me to accompany them to Maidan police station to record my statement,” Riyajul said. He came out of the police station around 9 pm with his box full of unsold puffs.
Even 72 hours after the assault, Riyajul was wondering what was his crime. “They (a few men from the group that had gathered for the Gita recital) asked whether I was selling chicken patties. I said ‘yes’. Then they asked my name. I told them the truth. They beat me up and threw away all the patties, worth Rs 3,000, and damaged the box containing the food items. They might have spared me had I lied while telling them my name,” Riyajul said.
“We survive on daily earnings. Sunday’s incident resulted in a huge loss. I have to pay my supplier,” he said.
In Kolkata, Riyajul’s day started around 9 am, when he would leave his shelter in Mehdi Bagan, carrying a 30-kg load on his head. He would do the rounds till late in the evening selling vegetable and chicken puffs, earning Rs 500.
Riyajul’s 86-year-old father Zainal Abedin, who sold puffs in Kolkata in the 1980s, is relieved that his son has returned home. “During my time, I had confronted ticket-blackers (those who would sell tickets of sporting events illegally at a premium), badmash and pickpockets in the Maidan area but never heard of such an incident (the assault on his son),” he said.Ignoring the aches and pains, Riyajul woke up early on Wednesday and went out with his box to sell the unsold puffs in narrow lanes of Metiabruz at a discounted rate before leaving for Arambag.