MEERUT: A Muslim youth was tied to a tree, beaten up and forced to chant “Jai Shree Ram” by three men in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on June 14. The incident came to light on Saturday after the victim's sister lodged a complaint with the police.
The accused have been identified as Saurabh Thakur, Gajendra and Dhani Pandit. It has been alleged that they suspected Mohammed Sahil Khan, a daily wage worker of having stolen a mobile phone and chose to thrash and torture him. They also tonsured the head of Sahil Khan.
To exacerbate the victim's agony, the Kakod police arrested him and sent him to prison on June 15 while letting the gang go scott-free.
However, on Saturday, Sahil’s sister, Rubeena,25, approached the Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shlok Kumar and lodged a complaint with him.
The SSP ordered a probe into the issue following which he suspended the Station Head Officer (SHO) of Kakod Police Station, Amar Singh for allegedly sending the victim to jail instead of taking action against the accused persons.
On the intervention of Shlok Kumar, the three accused were arrested and booked under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 153-A (attack upon religion), 342 (kidnapping) and 505 (criminal intimidation) and later arrested on June 17.
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter on Saturday saying, “A daily-wage earner was tied to a tree, beaten and forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans. Apathy of the police is such that instead of taking action against the accused, Sahil has been sent to jail. Where should we go to lodge a complaint on atrocities being inflicted on us?”. He also appended the video of the incident along with the tweet.