Three individuals, including one having connection to the Vishva Hindu Parishad, have been detained for allegedly beating a Muslim e-rickshaw driver here and coercing him to chant “Jai Shri Ram”, police said on Friday. The event had occurred at the Kacchi Basti locality in the Barra area of Kanpur on Wednesday.
A one-minute video of the event appeared on social media, in which 45-year-old Asrar Ahmad is seen being beaten by some men, who ask him to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. Ahmed’s daughter is seen trying to rescue her father, crying and asking the attackers not to thrash him up. Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun said the three men were seized on Thursday night. One of the detained, Aman Gupta, has connection to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), police said. Besides Gupta, the two others caught are Rajesh, alias Jay, and Rahul.
The accused are aged between 25 and 30. They are denizens of the Barra area. Asim Arun said the victim was saved by police, who brought him to the police station. On the grounds of a complaint by the victim, a case was lodged against the people seen attacking him in the video. DCP (South) Raveena Tyagi told PTI, Once the surfaced video came to our notice, we realized and registered an FIR under relevant sections of the IPC. Several groups were formed to identify and arrest the culprits, she added. After the arrests were made, some people concerned with Hindu organizations sat on a dharna outside the DCP office on Thursday night. They left after police convinced them to conclude their protest.
