Ghaziabad: A 72-year-old Muslim man, Abdul Samad Saifi, in Ghaziabad to meet relatives, was abducted, blindfolded and taken to an isolated spot before being brutally beaten up by a group of men, who also forced him to chant religious slogans such as Jai Shree Ram before forcibly cutting off his beard. The attackers also forced the man to chant "Vande Mataram".
The Ghaziabad Police said that it had taken cognizance of a video of the attack posted on social media by one of the attackers and had already arrested one Pravesh Gurjar in the case while three others involved in it are absconding.
The video was quick to go viral and showed two men thrashing the elderly man with sticks and kicking him as well. It has now come to the fore that the attackers held Abdul in a hut inside a forest for nearly four hours and brutally assaulted him.
As per police, the video is from Hajipur area under Loni border of Ghaziabad and the incident took place on June 5. The victim, Abdul Samad Saifi, originally from Bulandshahr district had come to Loni to meet a relative and was returning back. At this time, some unknown persons had offered him a lift in an auto rickshaw and took him to an isolated spot.
The victim has alleged that the miscreants put a gun to his head and he was forced to chant Jai Sri Ram. "The two men covered my face with a scarf and took me to an isolated place. As I chanted prayers and took Allah's name, they told me to chant Jai Shree Ram and Vande Matram. I kept on begging for mercy but they hit me with sticks, hands and kicked me several times. Later, they brought a pair of scissors and cut off my beard" said Abdul Samad.
While a complaint into the matter was received by police on June 7, an FIR was registered and one of the accused persons identified as Pravesh Gurjar, has been arrested by police. Cops said that three other persons were also involved in the incident who are yet to be arrested. Ghaziabad's Superintendent of Police (Rural) Dr Iraj Raza has said that a detailed investigation into the case is underway.
"The miscreants might have recorded the video and posted it online. Police immediately took cognisance of the incident and arrested the main accused. The victim has been called from Bulandshahr to help police with the investigation. We are also looking into the criminal history of the arrested accused," the SP said.
Meanwhile, police said that the arrested accused, Pravesh Gurjar, was also arrested a few days ago in a different case. "The accused has been arrested and sent to jail. The reason behind the incident for which they thrashed the elderly man will be ascertained after the arrest of the rest of the miscreants. An investigation into the case is underway and police teams have been formed to make the arrest" said a senior police officer.