Ghaziabad: Right-wingers booked for harassing couples at Indirapuram park

Vipin Gurjar, national president of Hindu Jagriti Manch, confirmed that the men seen in the videos belonged to his organisation but denied that they harassed any couple

Two days after a group of men wielding sticks and belonging to a Hindu right wing group went around Swarn Jayanti Park in Indirapuram, allegedly harassing couples on Wednesday, police took cognizance of the video clips on social media of the alleged incident and registered a case against members of the Hindu Jagriti Manch at Indirapuram police station, senior officers said on Friday.

Video clips of the alleged “moral policing” showed a group of men armed with long sticks accosting couples in the park, asking them to show their ID cards, and also querying about their relationship. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Officers said the FIR names Vipin Gurjar, national president of Hindu Jagriti Manch, and an unidentified person, and was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 351(2) (criminal intimidation) late Thursday night.

“We registered an FIR on the basis of videos going viral on social media. Also, police checking is on in different areas today (on Valentine’s Day) to keep an eye on people who try to harass others,” said Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Indirapuram circle.

Video clips of the alleged “moral policing” showed a group of men armed with long sticks accosting couples in the park, asking them to show their ID cards, and also querying about their relationship. They were also heard threatening to call up the couples’ parents and family, and asking the couples not to hang out together again.

HT, however, could not authenticate the video clips’ veracity.

Later, Gurjar confirmed that the men seen in the videos belonged to his organisation but denied that they harassed any couple.

“If you see, our sisters and mothers visit the park for morning walks, and they often find couples sitting there. Many of them “indulge in indecent behaviour”. Such acts endanger our religion and culture. Valentine’s Day, on Friday, is not part of our culture. February 14 happens to be the day of the terror attack in Pulwama (2019), and the group members asked the couples to light diyas and remember the martyred soldiers,” Gurjar said.