In a viral video posted on social media, elderly Muslim man Abdul Samad Saifi accused four men of beating him up, chopping his beard and asking him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in the Loni area of Ghaziabad.
The Ghaziabad police said it had already registered an FIR and had arrested one man, Parvesh Gurjar, for his involvement in the incident, which took place on June 5 but was reported to the police two days later.
Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Amit Pathak, however, said that the victim Saifi, a Bulandshahr resident, had not made an allegation of being forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' or the chopping of his beard, in his FIR lodged on June 7.
"How come he is making new allegations now on June 14?" asked Pathak, saying that someone might have instigated him to make new allegations.
Ghaziabad (Rural) SP Iraj Raja said that Gurjar was arrested a few days after the incident for his role in another criminal case, but was found to be involved in the assault on Saifi. So, he was placed under arrest in this case as well.
Raja said the motive behind the beating up of Saifi by Gurjar and his associates was a dispute between the two over the purchase of an amulet.
Saifi allegedly practised occultism and sold the amulet to Gurjar, purportedly to free one of his family members from an "evil effect" but a dispute arose between the two as the desired result was not achieved, Raja said.
After Gurjar's arrest, the police repeatedly summoned Saifi to join the investigation, but he never came to the police, the SSP said, adding he was also summoned on Monday, but he was yet to appear.
In the viral video, Saifi showed his injuries and said that he was abducted from the Gokulpuri area when he took an auto for Loni in Ghaziabad. The auto already had two people in it when he hired it while two more boarded the vehicle a little distance ahead, said Saifi. The four suddenly pounced on him, covered his head with a cloth and began beating him up inside the auto, Saifi said.
"They eventually drove me to a secluded house in a field in the Behta Hazipur village of Loni where they beat me up further while asking me to chant Jai Shri Ram," said Saifi in the video. "Every time I cried out in pain and uttered Allah, they beat me up again and asked me to chant Jai Shri Ram instead," said Saifi. "They even chopped off my beard, calling me a Pakistani spy."