Assaulted for not chanting 'Jai Shri Ram'? Here's the truth, say cops

In the latest development in the Ghaziabad assault case where an elderly Muslim man, Abdul Samad Saifi, was beaten up and allegedly told to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', the police have arrested two more accused: Kalloo Gujjar and Adil. Apart from them, Polly, Arif, Mushahid and Parvesh Gujjar too had attacked the man.

After the video of the attack went viral, there were reports of it being a hate crime, but it turns out that the entire incident flared up over a supposedly ‘magical’ tabeez (amulet). Since there were at least three Muslim men involved in the attack on Abdul, the narrative that he was forced to say 'Jai Shri Ram' seems to be highly suspect and is an attempt to incite communal tension.

According to sources, three arrests have been made so far in the case. The main accused, Parvesh Gujjar, was nabbed by the police on Sunday. He had been previously involved in a murder case, assault and Arms Act cases.

Earlier, reports of Abdul Samad Saifi being kidnapped by miscreants and forcing him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Vande Mataram' started doing the rounds. The accused in the video was identified as Parvesh Gujjar, a resident of Ghaziabad.

Abdul later released a video describing the attack. "They kicked and punched me and forced me to shout 'Jai Shri Ram'," he said, breaking into tears. "They put a gun to my head and said they'll kill me. They continued to beat me for hours and I kept screaming."

However, the original video that was made viral showing the old man being attacked has been muted. It was reported that in the original video, which the cops have seen, nowhere does anyone ask Abdul to say 'Jai Shri Ram'. Even the original complaint that Abdul lodged has no reference to the chant.

A journalist with an Indian news outlet, Swati Goel Sharma, later cleared the air and ruled out any communal angle to the incident.

An amulet sale gone wrong

Police ruled out any communal angle saying Sufi Abdul Samad was attacked by six men - Hindus and Muslims - who were unhappy over the amulets he had sold them.

The arrested youth have been identified as Kalloo and Adil. Apart from them, Polly, Arif, Mushahid and Parvesh Gujjar were also involved in the incident, Senior Superintendent of Police Amit Pathak said.

The Ghaziabad police had earlier arrested Gujjar, who owns the house where the alleged incident took place.

An FIR was lodged two days after the incident which took place on June 5 under IPC section 342, section 323, section 504, section 506. In his complaint, S

On Monday, the Ghaziabad police said it had registered an FIR in the alleged incident which took place on June 5 but was reported to police two days later on June 7.

The man, who has identified himself as Abdul Samad Saifi, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, however, had not made such allegations in his complaint as in the video, said Ghaziabad SSP Amit Pathak.

The SSP also said in the case, the police have already arrested one person, named Parvesh Gujjar, who had taken an amulet from Abdul who practices occultism.

After the arrest, the have police repeatedly summoned Abdul to join the investigation, but he never came back to the police, the SSP said, adding he was also summoned for Monday, but he didn't appear.

(With inputs from PTI, News18 and other agencies)

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