NEW DELHI: Five young men were arrested on Wednesday for attacking three madrassa students last week after they allegedly refused to say "Jai Mata", police said.
Ashu, Karamvir, Sachin, Sagar and Aditya, all in their 20s and residents of Begumpur in south Delhi, were arrested from their residences, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikramjit Singh told IANS.
The officer said madrasa student Dilkash, 18, and his two classmates -- Ajmal and Naeem -- alleged that they were attacked in a park on March 26 when they refused to say "Jai Mata Ki".
Dilkash, who suffered a broken arm following the attack, told police that he and his friends were walking in a park when they were attacked.
Vikramjit Singh said the victims, who are from Bihar's Purnia district, came to Delhi last year to study at the Faiz-ul-uloom Ghausia madrassa in Begumpur.
The three managed to escape after a few minutes of the attack and ran to their seminary. The police were then alerted.
The officer told IANS that the arrested youths had been charged with causing grievous hurt and wrongful restraint. He said the victims were known to the accused.
"The arrested youths have denied the allegations made by the victims, saying they were playing cricket in the park when the ball hit one of the madrassa students who used abusive language, leading to a scuffle," Singh said.
"The culprits accepted that they beat up the madrassa students and attacked one of them with a bat. But they denied they forced the victims to say 'Jai Mata Ki'," the officer added.