Hyderabad: Two incidents of Muslim men gheraoing and assaulting Hindu men who were travelling with burqa-clad women in their own vehicles have been reported in the city in the last three days. In both cases, the vehicles of the victims had orange cloth tied to them. Two others were reported earlier this month.
In the first incident at Tolichowki, the Golconda police have booked cases and arrested Mohd Rafi, a painter, for stopping two classmates college on Friday.
“Rafi started creating a nuisance on the road, questioning their credentials and asking them to call their families. Others joined and ganged up against the boy,” police said. “When Rafi was questioned, he stated that he stopped them to avoid issues in the Old City,“ the Golconda police said.
“We have arrested Rafi and efforts are on to identify and nab others involved,” the police said. The incident came to light on Monday after a video surfaced on social media.
In the second incident, two students, family friends, were gheraoed by a mob comprising Muslim men at Nampally on Sunday at about 2 pm.
“The boy and the girl are from Vijayawada and are close family friends. The boy is pursuing his MBA in the city. The girl’s mother had sent her along with him on a scooter to submit certificates after she got a seat in another college in the city,” P. Vishwa Prasad, Central Zone DCP, said.
They were heading home to Yousufguda and stopped at the Bazaar Ghat traffic signal in Nampally when a man, who is yet to be identified, questioned them.
“Within minutes, a mob formed and the boy was slapped and threatened and the girl was asked to hire an autorickshaw to go home even as she was explaining their situation. The boy was let go after being threatened,” said the DCP.
The Nampally police checked the CCTV footage of the incident after a video went viral on social media, and approached the boy after tracing him through his scooter’s number plate from the clip.
“They had travelled back to Vijayawada and refused to lodge a complaint but a statement was taken from them and a suo motu case has been booked, based on which we are investigating the case.”
DCP Vishwa Prasad said.
On September 8, a man travelling with a Muslim woman on a two-wheeler to the government hospital in Nizamabad town to collect some documents required to submit at IIIT-Basara for their salaries also faced a similar situation. He was released when local RSS leaders intervened.
On September 11, the incident came to the notice of the police, and a case was registered against the accused under Sections 295A, and 365 (kidnapping) of the IPC. Sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were added to the complaint as the man belonged to the Dalit community.
So far, police have arrested four men who were sent to judicial custody. There are two more suspects in the case that are at large, and the police are looking for them.
