5 right wingers held by police for assault on Muslim youths
AHMEDABAD: Nearly a week after recordings purportedly showing Bajrang Dal activists hitting four Muslim youngsters at a Garba venue on Sindhu Bhavan Road went viral, local police announced on Wednesday that they had detained five members of the right-wing party in connection with the attacks.
According to a police statement from Sarkhej, the events in issue occurred on the night of September 27, when “eight to ten adolescents wearing saffron scarves” targeted youth from a minority community, chased and assaulted them, and injured a youth named Salman Shaikh, who was severely bleeding.
According to the statement, the accused shot films of their offense and made them viral, hurting the feelings of the minority community.
Culprits by Police
Hiren Rabari (28), Nilesh Prajapati (26), Jitendra Koli (25), Sahil Dudhakia (25), and Tarun Mistry (25) were identified as the culprits by police (28). Inspector V J Chavda of the Sarkhej police said the culprits were identified through viral videos with the help of informants.
Chavda claimed that eight or ten Bajrang Dal workers had assaulted Muslim teenagers. “We have yet to apprehend three or four Bajrang Dal workers and have been attempting to identify them,” Chavda added.
On September 28, videos of Bajrang Dal workers attacking four Muslim youngsters at a Garba venue near the RK Party Plot on Sindhu Bhavan Road went viral.
On Thursday, September 29, Sarkhej police filed an FIR against unknown men under IPC Sections 323 (causing hurt), 143 (member of unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 294b (uttering abusive words), and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).
Chavda explained why the defendants were not charged with more serious offenses by stating that they were also attempting to locate the victim, Salman Shaikh.
“We also investigated with hospitals, but no such injured patient was reported anywhere. We’ve been looking for Shaikh. We would add stiffer charges to the FIR if he comes and lodges a complaint “Chavda stated.
