Man thrashed in Delhi over attempt to extort money, video goes viral

 A 30-year-old man was brutally thrashed by a group of people near Bhalswa Dairy here over his attempt to extort money from a shopkeeper in Azadpur Mandi, police said on Wednesday.

The incident, which took place at Gujjar Chowk on Saturday, was captured in a video that has gone viral on social media. Police have arrested five people in the case.

The man has been identified as Noor Alam, police said, adding he is undergoing treatment at a hospital and is stable.

In the video, it is seen that the assailants first stop his motorbike and then thrash him in broad daylight with sticks. The video has also captured many onlookers but none of them comes forward to save the man from the beating.

"We received a call from Alam on Saturday, saying that a group of men known to him attacked him and snatched his belongings. During the investigation, we found that Alam is a parking contractor and a goon in Azadpur Mandi area," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer-North) Gaurav Sharma said.

Police said that Alam used to extort money from vendors in Azadpur Mandi. Last week, he tried to extort money from Shashi, who has a shop in Azadpur Mandi. He refused to give money to Alam and told his friends Deepak and Govinda, a senior police officer said.

When Deepak and Govinda confronted Alam, they were allegedly beaten up by his associates.  On Saturday, the men thrashed Alam with sticks to take revenge, police said, adding that the five accused were arrested on the same day. Alam made a false complaint of snatching against the accused so that they get more stringent punishment, police added.