‘Interfaith friendship’: UP man assaulted, forced to chant religious slogans; accused arrested

MEERUT: Rishabh Thakur, a prime accused in the infamous "Bareilly cafe assault case", has been arrested by city police for allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old man from a minority community in front of his ‘friend', and forcing him to publicly chant religious slogans. Thakur, a ‘zila badar' (criminal expelled from district), "misbehaved" with the young couple on Saturday evening as they belonged to different faiths, police said Tuesday.In Dec last year, Thakur had disrupted a nursing student's birthday party at a city cafe and assaulted her two male friends over allegations of ‘love jihad', sparking public outrage.The latest incident was filmed by Thakur's associates and circulated online. In the purported clip, they could be seen thrashing the young man with slippers and forcing him to chant slogans. Taking suo motu cognizance of the clip, Bareilly Cantt police picked up Thakur Sunday night, and launched an investigation.Condemning Thakur's conduct, the girl's father, Vijender Singh, also filed a police complaint, clarifying that his daughter, 17, went out with the youth only after his consent.In the complaint, Singh stated, "My daughter was with Shoib Ali. He works in Dubai and is home these days. He also visits our place often. On Saturday, he was strolling with my daughter with my permission when those men asked his name. Rishabh Thakur not only thrashed him but also extorted Rs 9,000 from him. We have all the details."Cantt circle officer, Ashutosh Shivam said, "An FIR was registered against Thakur and others under BNS sections 352 (breach of peace), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation), 353 (2) (circulating false information) and 308 (5) (extortion). Mobile phones were seized to probe the extortion angle. The victim's statement has been recorded."Notably, on Feb 5, Thakur, a regular troublemaker, was "expelled" from the district on DM's orders after an FIR was registered against him for allegedly demanding Rs 40,000 from a spa owner.Earlier on Dec 27, around two dozen men, including Rishabh Thakur, purportedly from right-wing groups barged into the city cafe and allegedly assaulted her friends while raising ‘love jihad' slogans. Five people -- Prince Singh, 19; Aakash, 21; Ashish Kumar, 26; Mridul Dubey, 22; and Deepak, 19 -- were later arrested.The nursing student, originally from Badaun, was staying with her aunt in Bareilly.Initially, local police issued a fine against the Muslim students and the cafe owner for "breach of peace", while no immediate action was taken against the perpetrators. The case took a turn only after a section of the social media sharply criticised the shoddy handling of the sensitive matter.Soon after, Bareilly SP (city) Manush Pareek said, "Those seen attacking inside the cafe have been identified, and an FIR has been registered under BNS sections 333 (house trespass), 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult...), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 191 (rioting)."(Inputs from Asif Ansari in Bareilly)