Note: Later reports suggests the main accused’s name is Parvez Gujjar and not Parvesh Gujjar.
Ghaziabad Police has acknowledged a tweet by Shalabh Mani Tripathi, information adviser to Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, where he alerted the police to fake news spread by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. Ghaziabad Police has said that investigations are underway as per law.
महोदय संज्ञान लिया गया – नियमानुसार कानूनी कार्रवाई की जा रही है
— GHAZIABAD POLICE (@ghaziabadpolice) June 15, 2021
Shalabh Mani Tripathi had said in his tweet, “He was beaten for destroying the life of a pregnant woman through quackery. Aadil, Aarif and Mushahid were involved in the beating but to slander the name of Ram and incite riots in Uttar Pradesh, rioters created an alternate story altogether.” He tagged the official account of Ghaziabad Police and urged them to take action.
Zubair had tweeted, “An elderly man, Sufi Abdul Samad Saifi was attacked by five goons in Loni, Ghaziabad. He was threatened at the gunpoint, beaten, assaulted, and they forcefully chopped off his beard.” In a video shared by the ‘fact-checker’, the victim could be seen being thrashed with sticks by the culprit. His beard was also cut forcibly using a scissor.
While speaking about the matter, Abdul Samad Saifi claimed that he was about to board an autorickshaw but was stopped by the accused. He said that his face was covered with a handkerchief and taken to an undisclosed location. Saifi alleged that he was locked inside a room and brutally thrashed. He also claimed that the miscreants had forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at gunpoint. “They told me that they have killed several Muslims in the past and will do the same to me,” Saifi further alleged.
In a tweet, Ghaziabad police informed that three accused had been arrested in the case. According to the police, the incident took place about 10 days ago on June 5, 2021. The victim Abdul Samad Saifi had travelled to the Loni border from Bulandshahr, where he was escorted to the house of accused Parvesh Gujjar in Banthala in Loni. After some time, the co-accused, namely, Kallu, Poli, Arif, Adil aka Mushahid arrived at Parvesh’s house and began thrashing the victim.
The victim Saifi sold amulets for a living. According to the police, the accused were miffed after the amulet proved harmful to them. Unlike what the victim had alleged, the police said that he knew the culprits for a long time. ‘Liberals’ had also spread fake news that the victim was forced the chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Considering the religion of the accused, it is safe to conclude that was blatant fake news.
