In the area under the Ari police station in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh, four drivers named Salman Khan, Altaf Khan, Raqib Khan, and Irfan Khan garlanded another tribal driver from Seoni with shoes during their demonstration for demands.
All four criminals have been arrested by the Ari police and a case has been registered against them after the video of the disgraceful incident went viral. Navbharat Times and Dalit Times, however, hid the identity of the perpetrators and presented it as an insult to Dalits by non-Dalits and blamed nationalists.
A chakka jam lasting approximately three days ensued as truck drivers across India participated in a collective strike, bringing all transportation to a standstill in various states. It was against the provisions of severe punishment in the newly adopted Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for crimes like hit and run. These drivers were also protesting for the same.
During this time, in the middle of the Ari bus stand in Seoni district, these four criminals insulted a tribal youth driver garlanding him with shoes and humiliating him. They also made a video of the incident in which they were seen shamelessly laughing while doing this act. The victim tribal youth driver hails from the Bramhodi area which comes under the Barghat police station area. He was carrying goods in his truck. The accused protesting drivers stopped him in Ari Chowk in front of the Ari bus stand. They adorned him with shoe beads and shot a video of the incident. They also made this video viral.
As the video went viral, the Ari police came into the action and arrested the accused. The tribal youth driver somehow got rid of these people and got out of there and reached the police directly. The police and station in-charge took prompt action and caught these accused and while taking action, they were presented before the SDM and sent to jail. They are identified as Salman Khan (son of Ibrahim Khan, age 24), Altaf Khan (son of Abdul Khan, age 40), Raqib Khan (son of Idrish Khan, age 55), and Irfan Khan (son of Iqbal Khan, age 28). All of them live in Ari. All of them are booked under sections 341, 294, 323, 355, 506, and 34 of the IPC and sections 3(1)(d),3(2)(VA),3(1)(D),3(1)(E) of the SC/ST Act.
However, the Navbharat Times reported the incident without naming the accused and presented it as non-Dalits insulting Dalits. It also questioned the nationalists taking pride in Chandrayaan’s success out of context.
मध्यप्रदेश : शिवनी में जातिवादियों ने दलित ट्रक ड्राइवर को पहनाई जूतों की माला, जातिसूचक गालियाँ भी दीं..#MadhyaPradesh #Dalit pic.twitter.com/fHKdeMmhSs
— Dalit Times | दलित टाइम्स (@DalitTime) January 13, 2024
A similar propaganda was run by X handle of Dalit Times. It wrote, “Madhya Pradesh: In Seoni, casteists garlanded a Dalit truck driver with shoes and also used caste-based abuses.”
