Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday arrested three accused for attacking a Muslim man and forcing him chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in Kanpur.
The incident which took place on Wednesday came to light after a video of the man being attacked and his daughter begging the attackers while clinging on to her father went viral.
The victim has been identified as Afsar Ahmad and is an E-rickshaw driver by profession. The police have filed an FIR against five named persons and eight to 10 unidentified persons for rioting, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt, The Hindu reported.
The three arrested accused were identified as Ajay, Rahul Kumar and Aman Gupta. According to police, Aman Gupta has affiliation to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Assistant Commissioner of Police Vikas Pandey told The Indian Express that the assault was connected to a dispute between two families from different communities who live in the area where the incident took place.
NDTV journalist Alok Pandey shared a video on Twitter, in which a mob squatted outside the concerned police station. “The mob left only after what they called ‘speedy investigation’ assurances,” the journalist wrote.
Following this, Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun in a video said that legal action is being taken against those who attacked and the victim was immediately rescued by the police and was brought to the police station.
Afsar in his statement said, “I was driving my e-rickshaw around 3 pm when the accused started abusing and assaulting me and threatening to kill me and my family. I got saved because of the police,”
The incident took place about 500 metres from an intersection where the right-wing group Bajrang Dal held a meeting and alleged that Muslims in the area were trying to convert a Hindu girl in their locality. The assault reportedly took place just after the meeting.