AURANGABAD: The
Aurangabad city police arrested four engineering students in the early hours of Monday for allegedly forcing two Muslim youths to chant “Jai Shri Ram” on Sunday night.
The incident took place on the road between Azad Chowk and Bajrang Chowk at around 10.30 pm. Police said the suspects had consumed liquor at a bar and had just stepped out to go to their car when they spotted the Muslim youths. They accosted the duo and forced them to chant the slogan. The news of the incident spread like wildfire, and many local youths gathered at the Azad Chowk area. Several senior police officers, including police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad, rushed to the spot to ease the tension.
4 students arrested for forcing youths to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’Police officials had to struggle till 5am to disperse the crowd that continued swelling due to rumours making the rounds on social media. Some people tried to instigate the crowd and pelted stones, even targeting a police van. However, the police, with the help of community leaders, thwarted their attempt to disrupt the peace.
The four engineering students were arrested in the wee hours of Monday. “We have also seized their car,” Prasad said.
The four have been charged under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The offence was registered at 3.30am at the Cidco police station.
Police said one of the Muslim youths has been identified as Shaikh Aamer, a delivery man for a food delivery app. He and one of his friends were going on their motorcycle to collect a takeaway from a restaurant on Jalgaon road.
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The key suspect, after asking the names of the two youths, allegedly told them to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. When they refused, the suspects threatened them with dire consequences. They were let off only after chanting the slogan. The incident was caught on a CCTV camera.