nTwo days after members of a family were beaten up in Gurugram’s Dhamaspur village by a group of men; tension continues to prevail in the area on Sunday even as police arrested two of the accused.
The accused have been identified as 24-year-old Mahesh Kumar and Dhirender alias Dheere, both are resident of Naya Gaon, a village located barely 2 km from Dhamaspur.
Sources in police confirmed that two more people have been detained and are being questioned.
A senior police official said that Mahesh Kumar was apprehended from Bhondsi on Friday evening. The official said that all the accused have been identified who were involved in the crime. Efforts are on to nab them,” he said.
“A team of senior police officers are closely investigating the matter. The probe teams are on the job and we will arrest more of the accused soon. The incident is highly sensitive but not communal.
I will appeal to all not to spread rumours and disrupt peace. A Police Control Room (PCR) van has been stationed outside the victim’s house. No further violence has been reported from the area,” said Police Commissioner, Muhammad Akil.
Though the district police have arrested one of the culprits, tension still prevails in the area that has been converted into a fortress with heavy deployment of police force. The local panchayat is reportedly mediating between the two families for a compromise.
“We were assured of a speedy investigation and quick action by the city police, but only one person has been arrested so far.
We have warned police that if more progress is not made and more people are not apprehended, we will reach the Police Commissioner’s office on Monday to demand action,” said a member of
the Muslim Ekta Manch, which has been assisting the victim’s family.
The incident took place after some of the accused allegedly approached the boys from the family, who were playing cricket outside, and demanded that they “go to Pakistan and play”.
According to the FIR, the incident took place around 5 pm, at the home of Mohammad Sajid, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and has been living here for the last three years with his wife Sameena and six children.
In the complaint, Sajid’s nephew Dilshaad, who was among those beaten up, said the trouble started when he was playing cricket with some others in a vacant plot near the house.
“Two unknown men came on a bike and hurled communal abuses. An argument started when they asked our boys to go and play cricket in Pakistan. They began fighting and when my uncle Sajid intervened, the boy sitting at the back of the bike slapped him.
Later a mob of drunken men came to our home and attacked us with “bhalas” (spears), “lathis” (sticks) and “talwars” (swords).
“On seeing them, we ran into the house, and they all began demanding that the men come out or they will kill us. When we did not go out, they forced their way into the house and started beating us up,” he alleged.
In the minutes that followed, one of the family members shot the entire attack on his mobile phone and soon the video became viral on social media.
“We are planning to either move back to our village or to Delhi. If this has happened here once, it can happen again. Even if something like this happens in our village, at least we will have 15-20 people who will stand by us. We are feeling alone here,” said Mohammad Sajid, the victim.
A case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including an attempt to murder at the Bhondsi Police Station. “Further probe into the matter is underway. We are conducting raids and expect to make arrests soon,” said Subhash Boken, spokesperson of the Gurugram police.