A case of Islamist attack on Hindu youths carrying an idol of Lord Ganesh has come to light from the Mundra area in Gujarat’s Kutch district. An injured Hindu youth, identified as Yuvraj Singh Jadeja, has filed a Police complaint against Hamja, Farooq, and three unknown persons for launching an attack on him and his two friends. So far, the Police have arrested two accused in this case.
According to the complaint, the three Hindu youths were returning home after buying a Ganesh ji idol to celebrate Ganesh Utsav. However, when they asked the accused to clear the road and park their bike on the sidewalk, the accused verbally argued with them and brutally attacked them.
The incident took place on Friday morning (6th September). An FIR was lodged at the Mundra police station against 5 accused. The FIR was filed on the complaint of Yuvrajsingh Jadeja, a resident of Samaghogha village of Mundra taluka. OpIndia has accessed a copy of the FIR.
In his complaint, the Hindu youth stated that he along with his two friends came to Mundra on Friday morning to buy a Ganesh idol. After keeping Lord Ganesh’s idol in a tempo, they were returning home from Mundra Umiyanagar College. When they reached the petrol pump near the Post office, their tempo could not move ahead as its pathway was blocked by a bike parked in the middle of the road. Two or three persons were chatting there.
Even when the tempo driver honked and asked them to move their bike, they didn’t pay heed to it. After which, Yuvraj Singh got down of the vehicle and requested the youths to give them way. However, the youth got agitated and started a brawl saying that the bike would not be parked on the side and they could do whatever they wanted. Soon, the crowd began to gather around them.
According to the complaint, despite the Hindu youths urging them that they did not want to fight and that they would leave from there if the bike could be moved a little. In the meantime, a youth who was part of the crowd became agitated and started shouting. When asked not to shout, he suddenly attacked Yuvraj Singh with an iron pipe and hit him on the right shoulder because of which he fell down.
‘Will not let you go alive, will have to finish you’: Wielding sharp weapons, the accused threatened the Hindu youths
Afterward, the crowd started pelting stones, and one of the accused brought a sword from somewhere. He threatened the Hindu youths saying that they would not let them go alive and they would be finished. Some of the accused also had other sharp weapons. However, when the crowd swelled, they hid their weapons.
Later, the Hindu victims called their friends from the village, who brought them to the hospital for treatment.
The man who threatened them with a sword was later identified as Farooq, while the other accused was identified as Hamja.
The Police have booked Hamja, Farooq, and three other unknown persons under Sections 115(2), 125(1), 189, 190, 191, 296(b), 351(2) 351(b) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Meanwhile, two accused have been arrested in this case.
The Hindu youths braved the stone pelting but didn’t let the accused break the Lord Ganesh’s idol
OpIndia contacted the Hindu victim Yuvraj Singh Jadeja. He told us that they were three persons and they were mercilessly attacked over a trivial matter. He stated that they were attacked after a minor argument broke out over the bike parking. According to him, it was a general brawl, however, when the accused saw the idol of Lord Ganesh in the vehicle, a mob gathered around it and attacked the Hindu victims in a rage.
He added that stones were also thrown on the vehicle in which they had kept the idol of Lord Ganesh. But they managed to safeguard the idol and later shifted it to safety.
He further stated that the area where the incident took place was a Muslim-majority area. Currently, the Hindu victim, Jadeja is admitted to the hospital and is undergoing treatment.
He lauded the Police action taken so far in this case. OpIndia tried to contact the Mundra police to get more details on the matter, but contact could not be established. The report will be updated following the Police response.
