Two Hindu men were allegedly attacked by a group of men from the Muslim community for bursting firecrackers in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar city on Diwali.
As per reports, the incident took place late in the night in Maafnagar, near the Madhiya Road Mohammadi Mosque in the Kumbharwada area.
The accused were identified by the police as Riyaz Pathan, Sameer Hussain Syed and Aslam Pathan. While the victims, both brothers, were identified as Akash and Ravi.
Police have apprehended two accused, Aslam Pathan and Sameer Syed in the case.
According to reports, Akash, the younger brother of complainant Ravi was bursting firecrackers, when one of the accused Sameer objected, leading to a heated argument between the two.
Some of the friends around the scene informed Akash’s brother Ravi about the brawl and that some people were attacking his brother for bursting crackers.
Subsequently, Ravi reached the scene and confronted them, after which, the three accused began hurling abuses at him.
After arriving on the spot, as Ravi objected to the verbal abuse, Riyaz struck him on the head with the axe, while Sameer and Aslam beat him indiscriminately with pipes.
When his brother Akash came to intervene, the goons attacked him with pipes as well. More people arrived, and all the attackers beat both brothers with fists and kicks.
According to the complaint, Ravi said that initially, there were around 10-15 Muslim men, but soon, 40-25 people gathered and began attacking them.
The FIR states that the accused, Riyaz Pathan, Samir Hussain Syed, and Aslam Pathan, were carrying a pipe, a sword, and a dagger in their hands.
As Ravi reached there, the accused Aslam Pathan started abusing him, and when Ravi opposed Pathan, he struck him on the head with a pipe.
The other accused, Sameer and Aslam, also joined Pathan and began thrashing the complainant with the pipe. The FIR adds that the accused, Sameer, arrived with a sword and pointed it at the complainant’s brother’s head.
As the dispute escalated, Ravi’s friends arrived at the spot and rescued Ravi and his brother. Thereafter, they were admitted to the hospital, where they are currently undergoing treatment.
Ravi suffered stitches on his head and had a fracture in his left arm, while Akash also needed stitches on his head.
Complainant accused police of bias and inaction
Meanwhile, Ravi has accused the police of being biased. He said the police did not include the names of some influential people in the FIR even though he gave their names.
He said that a woman named Khatija Khatoon, a local Congress leader who manages party events in the area and was involved in the attack, was not named in the FIR.
However, Police Inspector Dabhi of the Bortalav police station denied the allegations and clarified that the complainant’s signature was taken when the FIR was filed. She added that the complainant did not mention these names at that time.
The police said that if the complainant provides the names of other accused, they will take action against them.
Notably, the police have registered two separate FIRs in the matter. The first FIR was filed by the complainant against Muslim men, alleging that they had quarrelled with them over not allowing them to burst firecrackers on Diwali.
In addition to that, a counter FIR was filed by the Muslim men against the complainants, alleging that the complainants had argued with them and abused them over bursting firecrackers.
The case against Riyaz Pathan, Aslam Pathan, Sameer Hussain Syed, and Sameer has been registered under sections 117(2), 118(1), 115(2), 352, 54 of the BNS and section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act. Two accused, Aslam Pathan and Sameer Syed, have been arrested in the case, and investigations are ongoing