Mumbai: A young man was arrested today after a video clip showed him brandishing a police SLR during Saturday`s violent protests against alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam.
"Salim Allarakha Choukiya alias Ali (23), who had snatched a rifle from the police during the riots, was arrested from Anand nagar area of suburban Oshiwara today," Ravindra Patil, assistant inspector at Oshiwara police station, said.
Salim could be seen holding a self-loading rifle seized from a policeman in the video footage available with the police, Patil said, adding, "The accused claimed he had abandoned the rifle at the spot before escaping from there and did not fire. The probe will uncover whether he fired or not."
Salim has been handed over to crime branch`s Special Investigating Team, probing the case.
The police have been claiming that they had only fired in the air and not at the mob to quell the violence.
According to police, crime branch had called the detection teams of city`s 90 police stations yesterday and showed them a 25-minute video made after clubbing all the footages of the violence.
In the video, Salim was spotted holding the "fully loaded" SLR along with some other trouble-makers who were seen firing guns, police said.
During his questioning, Salim, a salesman in an electronic shop, claimed he had received a text message on his mobile phone about the protests following which he rushed to the spot.
"The man was with the group that snatched firearms and opened fire," said a crime branch official.
The video has "identifiable" images of at least 25 rioters, the official said.
PTI
