Muslim hawker allegedly beaten over 'Jai Shri Ram' chants; Internet suspended after tension
Asansol (WB), Jul 25: Tension prevailed in Hirapur area near here after a Muslim hawker was allegedly beaten up and forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans, following which authorities have suspended internet services and stepped up security.
After the Tuesday night incident, "fake" videos and photographs of Hindu-Muslim riots were being circulated on the social media to vitiate the atmosphere, police said on Thursday, adding they have increased vigil to avoid any untoward incident.
According to officials, a Muslim hawker in his mid forties was beaten up on Tuesday evening by a group of youths who allegedly forced him to chant "Jai Shri Ram". He was later admitted to a local hospital.
No arrest has been reported in connection with the incident.
"We decided to snap internet services so that no one is able to vitiate the atmosphere through use of fake videos and photographs. Police patrolling is also on. The situation is presently under control," Asansol police commissioner D P Singh told PTI.
The internet services will remain suspended for the time being, he said.
The ruling TMC and the BJP blamed each other for the incident.
Senior TMC leader and Asansol mayor Jitendra Tiwari accused the BJP of trying to destroy the secular fabric of the area since the victory of the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls.
"Since the result of Lok Sabha polls, this has been a regular affair. The BJP thinks it can win seats in the area in the 2021 assembly polls by creating a communal divide," Tiwari told PTI.
Babul Supriyo, the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate, had been re-elected from Asansol this time.
State BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu denied the charges as "baseless" and said such incidents only prove that the state government has failed to maintain law and order.
The issue of mob violence and lynching was raised by a group of 49 eminent personalities, including filmmakers, authors and actors, who wrote to the prime minister on Tuesday, expressing concern over such incidents.
The signatories also said that they regretted that 'Jai Shri Ram' has been reduced to a "provocative war cry that leads to law and order problems, and lynchings take place in its name".
Reacting to it, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had said no one should communalise criminal incidents and asserted that Dalits and minorities are safe in the country.
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Two more cases registered against Kharat; over 100 complaints received over phone
Nashik (Maharashtra) (PTI): Two more cases have been registered against self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, police said on Saturday, adding that the Special Investigation Team which conducting a probe against him has received more than 100 complaints over phone.
With this, a total of ten FIRs, eight for alleged sexual assault or exploitation and two for cheating, have been registered against Kharat at Sarkarwada police station in the city.
Kharat, who was visited by several prominent Maharashtra politicians over the years, was arrested on March 18 after a woman alleged that he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
On Friday, another FIR was registered against him on a complaint filed by a woman, officials said.
The woman met Kharat for guidance as her relations with the husband were strained and the family was having financial troubles, she told police.
Kharat allegedly told her that she would have to do his every bidding if she wanted a solution to her problems, and sexually exploited her between March 2022 to 2024.
The second FIR registered on Friday was based on a cheating complaint filed by Rajendra Bhagwat, a cloth merchant from Nevasa.
He wanted his business to do well and met Kharat on a relative's advice, Bhagwat told police.
Kharat allegedly took a gold ring and a few gemstones from him and gave him a ring and a gemstone in return, asking him to wear them.
As per Bhagwat, he paid Rs 2.62 lakh for this, but later realised that the ring and gemstone given by Kharat were fake, and he had been duped.
The SIT, which has published two phone numbers for those who want to give any information about Kharat's criminal activities, has received more than 100 complaints in the last five days, most of them from women, a police official said.
But very few of them are coming forward to lodge written complaints, he added.
Kharat is also suspected to be involved in a Hawala racket, the official said.
