The Thane police have arrested three persons for allegedly assaulting and bullying an Ola cab driver and forcing him to say “Jai Shri Ram”.
Identifying the three arrested persons as Mangesh Munde, Jaydeep Munde and Anil Suryawanshi, the police said that they had booked for offences registered under 295 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to hurt religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 392 (Punishment of robbery).
The victim, Faisal Usman Khan (25) is a driver with Ola, a cab aggregator. He had gone along with passengers to Diva, located on the distant outskirts of Thane city, on the night of Saturday last (June 22).
According to the victim, the incident happened when he was trying to fix his car which had broken down He had kept the parking lights on. Three persons came on a scooter and thrashed him and forced to say “Jai Shri Ram.
“On his return journey, the victim and four others had an argument over a petty issue. Subsequently, the enraged passengers beat up the cab driver. During the course of beating, the victim invoked the name of Allah. Realising that the victim belonged to the minority community, the quartet forced him to say “Jai Shri Ram”. The badly injured victim duly obliged the four and said: `Jai Shri Ram’,” the police said.
However, the incident went viral on social media as the local leaders raised the issue and condemned the incident and mob lynching.
In a video clip that made rounds in the social media during the day, the victim narrated the entire episode and alleged that the mob had abused the religion and assaulted him.