Two more held for thrashing elderly man, police deny communal angle
Ghaziabad: Two more men were arrested for thrashing and chopping the beard of an elderly man who also claimed that they asked him to chant "Jai Shri Ram".
Police however ruled out any communal angle saying Sufi Abdul Samad was attacked by six men - Hindus and Muslims - who were unhappy over the amulets he had sold them.
The arrested youth have been identified as Kalloo and Adil. Apart from them, Polly, Arif, Mushahid and Parvesh Gurjar were also involved in the incident, Senior Superintendent of Police Amit Pathak said.
The Ghaziabad police had earlier arrested Gurjar, who owns the house where the alleged incident took place. An FIR was lodged two days after the incident which took place on June 5 under IPC section 342, section 323, section 504, section 506.
In his complaint, Samad did not mention that his beard was cut and he was compelled to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.
Police is raiding the possible hideouts of other accused and they will be nabbed soon, Superintendent of Police rural Iraj Raja said.
Samad also practised occultism and had sold some amulet to Gurjar, purportedly to free one of his family members from some "evil effect" but a dispute arose between the two as there was no desired result of the amulet, he said.
The purported video which went viral on social media shows four men beating Samad up, chopping his beard and asking him to chant Jai Shri Ram in the Loni area of Ghaziabad.
Showing his injuries in the video, Samad has said he was abducted from Gokulpuri area when he took an auto for Loni in Ghaziabad.
The autorickshaw already had two people in it when he hired it while two more boarded it a little distance ahead, said Samad in the video, adding the four suddenly pounced upon him inside the auto, covered his head with a piece of cloth and began beating him up.
"They eventually drove me to a secluded house in a field in Behta Hazipur village of Loni where they further beat me up while asking me to chant Jai Shri Ram," alleged Samad in the video.
"Every time I cried in pain and uttered Allah they beat me up again asking me to chant Jai Shri Ram instead," said Samad.
"They even chopped my beard, calling me a Pakistani spy," he said. PTI Corr MA
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Vijay says no to CM convoy until swearing-in: TVK
Chennai (PTI): TVK chief Vijay declined to accept the police convoy vehicles provided to Tamil Nadu chief minister as per protocol until his swearing-in, the party said on Thursday.
A police official confirmed that the CM convoy vehicles provided to him "as per protocol" following the announcement of the Assembly election results were returned and have not been withdrawn.
The official also said that arrangements were in place for the swearing-in ceremony.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) clarified that its party founder Vijay had "personally requested that the convoy vehicles be returned". In a statement here, the TVK said: "Vijay conveyed that he would accept the official chief minister-level security only after forming the government with a decisive mandate".
Four convoy vehicles assigned to Vijay on May 4 after his TVK secured 108 seats in the Assembly polls returned from his residence following his request.
Even on May 6, the police had deployed security near his Panaiyur residence and in front of the Lok Bhavan here when Vijay called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake his claim to form the government. Vijay did not use the government vehicle to meet the Governor.
