NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday arrested a man for allegedly abusing and thrashing a Muslim youth after he failed to show him an I-card while selling vegetables at Tajpur Road near Badarpur extension. In a video of the incident that went viral on social media, the man is seen asking the vegetable seller to show his identity card but he could not. The man then angrily asks him his name and address. When the vegetable seller identifies himself as Mohammad Saleem, the man abuses him and beats him. The accused is heard saying “...tum logo ne jihad macha diya hai (people like you have started a jihad)” to the vegetable vendor in the southeast Delhi locality.
“A Twitter message was received from our cyber cell in which one person seen asking the name and address of a vegetable seller and later beating him with stick,” said the police. During enquiry into the matter, police spotted a motorcycle in the video and through the number plate of the vehicles found its owner Sudhanshu, a resident of Molarband. “Sudhanshu told police that the incident took place at Tajpur road and identified the man who hit the vegetable seller as Praveen Babbar,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena.
Babbar,who runs a tour and travel agency, told police that there were about 10 vegetable sellers in the area and he asked them to move from there as lockdown had been enforced but the young vegetable seller didn’t move. Seeing this, Babbar got angry and beat the victim, Meena said. The vegetable seller told police that on April 10 at around 1.30 pm, when he was at Tajpur road, Babbar abused and beat him.”We have arrested Praveen Babbar. Such incidents shall not be tolerated at any cost and law will take its course against such persons,” the DCP said.
A case was registered against Babbar under IPC sections153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 355 (assault with intent to dishonour person), 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) and 323 (voluntarily cashing hurt) at Badarpur police station.
Later, it was found that the victim was a daily wager who was helping his brother sell vegetables for some earning.