Muslim man forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', cops arrest two

Bhopal/ Ujjain: A Muslim scrap dealer was allegedly threatened and forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' by two men at a village in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain district, following which the police have arrested the accused duo, an official said on Sunday. The incident occurred on Saturday and two purported videos of it have gone viral on social media.

Talking to reporters, R K Rai, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Mahidpur, said, "The incident happened on Saturday when scrap dealer Abdul Rasheed, a resident of Mahidpur town who has been doing this business here for a long time, went to Sikli village under Jharda police station area to collect some scrap in his mini truck."

However, Rasheed was forced to leave the village and also threatened against doing his scrap business in the area. When he left the village, two men intercepted him at Pipliya Dhuma, manhandled him and forced him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'. The man somehow got out from there after giving in to their demand, he said.

Jharda police station in-charge Vikram Singh Ivne said that an offence was registered against the two accused, identified as Kamal Singh (22) and Ishwar Singh (27), for disturbing communal harmony, and they were arrested. The duo was booked under IPC sections 153-A, 505 (2) (public mischief), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), among others. Meanwhile, two videos of this incident went viral on social media, which drew the ire of several netizens.