MEERUT: A Muslim youth was tied-up to a tree, beaten up and forced to chant “Jai Shree Ram” by three men in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on June 14. The incident came to light on Saturday after the victim’s sister approached the police.
The accused have been identified as Saurabh Thakur, Gajendra and Dhani Pandit. It has been alleged that they suspected Mohammed Sahil Khan, a daily-wager of having stolen a mobile phone and chose to thrash him. They also tonsured the head of the victim.
To add salt to the wound of the victim, the Kakod police arrested him and sent him to prison on June 15. They let the gang go scott-free.
However, on Saturday, Sahil’s sister, Rubeena,25, approached the Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shlok Kumar and lodged a complaint with him. She informed the police officer that when her brother failed to return home on June 15 and after she happened to watch the horrific video of her brother being tortured, she rushed to Kakod police station. To her shock, she was informed that her brother was arrested by the police instead of the persons who tortured her brother.
The SSP ordered a probe into the issue and also suspended the Station Head Officer (SHO) of Kakod Police station, Amar Singh for allegedly sending the victim to jail instead of taking any action against the accused.
On the intervention of Shlok Kumar, the three accused were arrested and booked under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 153-A (attack upon religion), 342 (kidnapping) and 505 (criminal intimidation) and later arrested on June 17.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi posted the viral video in a tweet on Saturday and said, “A daily-wage earner was tied to a tree, beaten and forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans. Apathy of the police is such that instead of taking action against the accused, Sahil has been sent to jail.Where should we go to lodge a complaint on atrocities being inflicted on us?”.
