Truck driver transporting meat beaten up by several men in Gurugram; FIR lodged
Gurugram: A driver from Nuh, who was transporting meat in his pickup truck, was assaulted allegedly with rods by a group of men on Friday morning in Gurugram’s Badshahpur area, following which one person was arrested. Police said the victim suffered severe injuries and was rescued by a police team who rushed him to the Civil Hospital. He was later referred to a private hospital in Sector 38 where his condition is said to be stable. The suspects allegedly also damaged a police vehicle before escaping. Police said the reason for the attack was still not clear.
In a video of the incident shot by someone from the crowd, which HT has seen, a man can purportedly be seen arguing with the police and then breaking the windshield of the truck as several policemen try to hold back the crowd which had gathered. In another video shared on social media, which HT has seen, the victim can purportedly be seen sitting cross-legged on the ground while a man kicks him in the face, before he is restrained by a police official.
In the videos, the suspects can purportedly also be seen trying to pull the victim out of the police vehicle after the cops took him inside to protect him. They can purportedly be seen trying to push the cops even as a group of about 15 policemen try to control the situation.
According to the police, the incident took place around 9.30am when the victim, 25-year-old Lukman, was on his way in a pickup truck from Ghasera in Nuh to deliver buffalo meat to a meat shop owner, Tahir, near Jama Masjid in Gurugram. In the FIR registered at Badshahpur police station, Lukman states that he was near a traffic signal in Badshahpur when several men on at least four motorcyclists started following him.
“They tried to stop my vehicle but I sped towards Jama Masjid. A few lanes away from the mosque, near the Trunk Market, the men cornered me and assaulted me with rods. They broke the window panes of the truck and forced me into the truck. They took me to Jail road in Badshahpur and assaulted me, before a police team rescued me,” he said in the FIR.
Officers said three policemen deputed at a post near Jail Chowk noticed the commotion and confronted the suspects, who manhandled the policemen and broke the window panes of the police vehicle, before fleeing. The victim suffered at least seven injuries.
Sandeep Malik, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Sohna, said, “The victim was rescued and taken in a police vehicle by the policemen deputed at the check post. Since they were outnumbered, additional force was sent and the victim was taken to Civil Hospital. It is not certain if the victim was attacked on suspicion of transporting beef or some other reason. The reason would be known after suspects are arrested.”
The arrested suspect has been identified as Pradeep Yadav, 26, a resident of Rajiv Nagar.
According to Tahir, the meat shop owner, “Lukman has been supplying meat in the market for a few years. I received a call from him around 9.30am when he informed me that he was being chased. I immediately made several calls to the police but the team arrived an hour late. Lukman was beaten up in the Trunk Market and then he was bundled in his pick-up truck and taken to Badshahpur, where he was again beaten up. This attack has happened a day before Eid and it is an attempt to disturb communal harmony.”
The ACP, however, denied the police team reached late. “One of the teams was deployed at a check post nearby and reached within minutes. These allegations are not correct. Our team took the victim to the hospital after rescuing him. No communal link has yet been found yet in the investigation,” said ACP Malik.
A team from the City police station also visited the lane near the Trunk Market near Jama Masjid, the police said.
The meat from the pick-up truck has been to a laboratory for testing, they added.
An FIR was registered against the unidentified suspects under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of Indian Penal Code at Badshahpur police station on Friday, said the police.