Six held for assaulting Muslim family, threatening them to leave

The police said two members of the victims’ family, identified as Aatif Warsi and his cousin Mubin Khan, sustained injuries and were rushed to Civil Hospital in Sector 10 for treatment.

Six men were arrested for allegedly assaulting a Muslim family and telling them to leave the place, after an argument during the nine minutes ‘lights off’ exercise on Sunday night in Manohar Nagar, Sector 8.

The police, however, denied there was any communal angle to the incident but arrested the men under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing hurt and promoting enmity. (HT Archives. Representative image)

The police said two members of the victims’ family, identified as Aatif Warsi and his cousin Mubin Khan, sustained injuries and were rushed to Civil Hospital in Sector 10 for treatment. They were later discharged and their condition was said to be stable.

The police, however, denied there was any communal angle to the incident but arrested the men under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing hurt and promoting enmity.

According to the police, the incident took place around 9.15pm, when at least 20 men, including the victims’ two neighbours, assembled on a road behind their house to participate in the lights off exercise.

In the police complaint, Warsi, alleged, “The group was chanting nationalist slogans when they noticed some people flashing lights on their phones on the second floor of our house. The group objected to videos being recorded and at least six men barged into the house.”

A few minutes later, one of the suspects, who lives in the adjacent house, allegedly tried to throw a chair from his balcony at Warsi’s mother. “Some of the men jumped onto our balcony and threw bricks at us, which hit me and my cousin. My father hid other members of the family in a room and locked it from inside to protect them. The men threatened us and left,” alleged Warsi.

Sumer Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), west, said, “The police received information of the incident from the control room at 9.55 pm and immediately rushed to the spot. Six men were arrested on Monday from Manohar Nagar area. The investigation so far has revealed that there was some old enmity between the neighbours and there had been scuffles in the past. There is nothing communal in the alleged incident. The situation is completely peaceful. Further probe is on and we are verifying the allegations.”

Warsi’s father, Akram, who hails from Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, said that he had been staying in the city since 2009 and had never faced discrimination on the basis of religion. “We were just recording videos of the lights off to send it to our family on WhatsApp,” he said.

The police said Warsi sustained an injury on his right eye and his cousin, Khan, suffered an injury on his left cheek.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that a PCR vehicle rider had made multiple rounds of the area on Monday and the situation was peaceful.

A case was registered against the suspects under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act at New Colony police station on Sunday night, said the police.