No communal angle in Ghaziabad Police's arrests over assault on Muslim man; BJP slams Cong

A day after the video of an elderly Muslim man being assaulted had gone viral on social media, Ghaziabad Police has affirmed that all the culprits have been traced, with several arrests being made as well. Claiming to have cracked the case, Ghaziabad Police said that all the accused were acquainted with the victim, identified as Abdul Samad who used to make religious amulets. 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Ghaziabad Police has said that Abdul Samad was taken to key accused Pravesh Gujjar's residence in Loni where other accused identified as Kullu, Polly, Aarif, Aadil and Mushahid arrived later and assaulted the victim. On investigating the matter further, the police is said to have found that the accused assaulted Abdul Samad because the amulet given by him to Pravesh Gujjar had allegedly led to ill effects. 

"Abdul Samad, Pravesh, Aadil, Kullu and others knew each other before the incident as Abdul had made amulets for several people in the village. Based on the complaint registered, key accused Pravesh Gujjar has been arrested and relevant sections of the law have been invoked. On June 14, two more accused, Aadil and Kullu have been arrested.  The remaining accused have been traced and will be arrested soon," the Ghaziabad Police has said in a statement. 

As per the complaint lodged by Adbul Samad earlier, he was physically assaulted and harassed by a mob in Ghaziabad's Loni after being nabbed while he was getting back home on June 5. Samad had alleged that he was held at gun-point by a mob who forced him to chant a religious slogan. Saifi alleged that when he refused to comply, the mob brutally assaulted him with sticks and even chopped off his beard. A video of the victim had gone viral on Twitter, in which he could be seen pleading, while the mob attacked him with sticks and bare hands.  

"I was on my way when I was suddenly nabbed. Two men got inside the auto-rickshaw held me forcefully. Then they took me to a room and locked me up and thrashed me. They forced me to chant slogans... they took my mobile away... they got a knife and cut my beard," Samad had said in a visibly emotional state. 

'Congress campaign for UP elections': BJP

The viral incident had led to AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi lashing out at 'Hindutva ideology', holding it responsible for the incident. In a series of tweets, the Hyderabad MP had claimed that the mob followed the 'Hindutva ideology' and that Muslims' right to dignity is 'being snatched' by Hindutvadi goons. With the release of Ghaziabad Police's statement, the BJP waded into the matter attacking Congress for sharing the viral video on Twitter alleging that the victim was forced to chant a Hindu religious slogan. 

National in-charge of BJP's social media Priti Gandhi remarked that Congress' campaign for UP elections has 'officially begun' as it shared the viral video alleging atrocities against the minority community in the state. However, taking a dig at the Congress for sharing half-truth, Gandhi highlighted that the three of the accused identified by the Ghaziabad Police have Muslim names i.e. Aarif, Aadil and Mushahid. 

As per news agency PTI, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Amit Pathak has said that the victim Abdul Samad, a Bulandshahr resident, had not made any allegation of being forced to chant any religious slogans or the chopping up of his beard, in his FIR lodged on June 7 with a delay of two days. "How come he is making new allegations now on June 14?" asked Pathak, suspecting someone else of instigating him of making new allegations.