Local Politician Who Hosted FB Live Arrested in Loni Assault Case
The Ghaziabad Police has also filed an FIR against nine other entities, including The Wire, Twitter, and Rana Ayyub.
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Ummed Pahalwan Idrisi, a local politician in Ghaziabad’s Loni, was arrested by the local police on Saturday, 19 June, for giving a communal twist to the 5 June assault of 72-year-old Abdul Samad Saifi, reported The Times of India.
“A team of Ghaziabad Police has arrested Ummed Pahalwan from near Lok Narayan Jai Prakash Hospital in Delhi. He will be brought here for further investigation,” reported Hindustan Times, quoting Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amit Pathak.
According to the FIR filed, Pahalwan is accused of shooting the video of the assault, which went viral on social media. Pahalwan has been booked under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 505 (publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report with intent to incite).
The Ghaziabad Police also filed an FIR against nine entities, including Twitter Inc, The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, and Salman Nizami.
Those named in the FIR have been accused of falsely giving communal colour to the incident, without checking the facts. Twitter, the police have said in the FIR, “did nothing to prevent the video from going viral.”
The victim, 72-year-old Abdul Samad Saifi, was beaten up by a group of men, who allegedly made him chant “Jai Shri Ram,” besides forcibly chopping off his beard. However, the police have stated that the allegation of him being made to chant slogans is untrue.
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