Man gets contract online to target vehicles‘linked to particular community’; arrested

Bijnor: A 24-year-old man from UP has been arrested under BNS section 152 for allegedly setting a pickup truck on fire in front of a temple in Bijnor's Kiratpur after getting a contract online from a Mumbai-based individual to "target vehicles linked to a particular community".According to police, the accused, Abuzar Shamim from Kiratpur, used to work earlier at a salon in Gurugram. Police added that after the crime on March 4, he left his village the next day for Bijnor city where "he was planning to do something bigger". He was arrested on Thursday.An FIR was registered initially under BNS section 326 (F) (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance), and the stringent section 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) was later added. Notably, BNS 152 replaces the sedition law under IPC 124-A.After the arrest, Shamim told police that he was going through financial distress and when he shared his "pain" with his kin Mohd Zaid, he was directed to Abu Bakar who via a social media app, asked him to "target vehicles and promised payment for carrying out the act". Both Zaid, who works as a barber, and Abu Bakar are currently in Mumbai.A police officer, privy to the case, said, "There could be a larger conspiracy led by an online network to trigger a communal situation or a group linked with fanaticism. Efforts are now on to nab Zaid and Abu Bakar. The FIR was lodged by the vehicle's owner, in which he had stated that on March 4, an unidentified person sprinkled petrol on his truck with a UP number plate and set it on fire. He had also tried to deface the religious symbols and slogans on the vehicle."SP city, Krishna Gopal Singh, said, "During investigation, the name of Abuzar Shamim came up. He was arrested and police are checking his mobile details. Shamim had even recorded the March 4 act as ‘proof of his crime'."