3 Accused Of Assaulting Muslim Man In UP Get Bail 24 Hours After Arrest

New Delhi: Three people arrested for parading a 45-year-old Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur town through a street, assaulting him and making him chant "Jai Shri Ram" slogans have been granted bail less than 24 hours after their arrest.

Three people, including one having affiliation to the Vishva Hindu Parishad, had been arrested for thrashing e-rickshaw driver Asrar Ahmad here and asking him to chant "Jai Shri Ram", police said on Friday.

A one-minute distressing video of the incident surfaced on social media, in which Asrar is seen being thrashed by some violent men. Asrar's crying little daughter is seen clinging on to her father and trying to to protect him from the attackers.

Later, some policemen took him to their jeep. It did not stop here. The video also shows the miscreants hitting the man while in police custody while police personnel are seen "mute spectators".

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the victim's family, Asrar was driving his e-rickshaw at around 3 p.m on Wednesday when a group of men wearing saffron gamchha (towel) started abusing and beating him. They threatened to kill him along with his family members. 

Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun said the three men were arrested on Thursday night. One of the arrested, Aman Gupta, has affiliation to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), police said.

Besides Gupta, the two others arrested are Rajesh, alias Jay, and Rahul.

After the arrest, a mob of Bajrang Dal workers held a protest outside the concerned police station in Kanpur and left only after what they called 'assurances' from the police about a fair investigation, saying they would return if those arrested were not released soon.

On Friday, only a day after the incident, all the accused were granted bail.

The incident comes on the back of growing instances of attacks on Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the Assembly elections due early next year. The promulgation the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion, an ordinance, commonly known as "Love Jihad", has further emboldened to Hindutva outfits to target Muslim youth and create a sense of fear among the community, point out critics.