Uttarakhand gym owner ‘Mohammed’ Deepak arrested for allegedly assaulting trader

Dehradun gym owner Deepak Kumar, who had opposed the harassment of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper by alleged Bajrang Dal members in January, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a trader, reported The Indian Express.

Kumar had purportedly uploaded a social media post about the Ujjain municipal authority demolishing a portion of a mosque as part a road-widening project ahead of the Hindu religious gathering called the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, reported The Times of India.

The complainant, Sanjeev Tonk, said in his complaint that he had commented on Kumar’s post.

Kumar then went to Tonk’s shop and assaulted him on Thursday, Sarvesh Panwar, the senior superintendent of police at Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal, told The Times of India.

The first information report against Kumar was initially registered under provisions pertaining to criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, reported The Indian Express.

The police said that they later added sections pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups and voluntarily causing hurt to the FIR.

“Considering the available evidence, the activities of the accused and the possibility of disturbance to peace and law and order in the area, Kotdwar Police took prompt and effective action and arrested Deepak under Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita,” the newspaper quoted the police as stating.

Section 170...

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