Ghaziabad: 4 more held in assault on elderly Muslim man, total arrests 9

File Photo

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad Police on Thursday arrested four more people in connection with the assault on an elderly Muslim man, who had claimed in a purported video that he was attacked and forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', according to officials. With this, the number of arrests so far climbs to nine.

The police, however, maintained that the attack on Abdul Shamad Saifi on June 5 took place because the accused were unhappy over the 'tabeez' (amulets) sold to them by him, and ruled out any communal angle in the episode.

"Four more accused identified as Himanshu, Anas, Shavez and Babu have been arrested today. The total arrests in the case have now gone up to nine," Superintendent of Police (Rural) Iraj Raja said.

The police had earlier arrested Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam, alias Bauna, all of whom were allegedly involved in the attack on Saifi in the Shaheed Nagar area of Ghaziabad, according to the officials.

In the video that triggered a nation-wide reaction, Saifi purportedly says he was attacked by some young men and forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', even as the district police responded that he did not make any such allegation in the FIR.

This FIR about the assault and illegal confinement was lodged on June 7, two days after the incident, on a complaint by Saifi, a resident of Anoopshahar in adjoining Bulandshahr district.