03 September,2024 02:09 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ashraf Ali Sayed Hussain, complainant
The Government Railway Police (GRP) has launched an operation to re-arrest three men after a court in Maharashtra's Nashik rejected their bail in a case involving an assault on a 72-year-old man suspected of possessing beef. Akash Awhad (30), Nitesh Ahire (30), and Jayesh Mohite (21) were first detained on August 28 for attacking Ashraf Ali Sayyed Hussain on the Dhule-Mumbai CSMT Express.
The incident of assault on senior citizen over beef suspicion, which was recorded on camera and widely circulated on social media, resulted in their arrest on August 31. However, the court granted the trio bail the next day. After they were released, the GRP was unable to keep them in prison.
Following fresh information from the victim, the police added charges of dacoity and offending religious emotions to the case. Following these new charges, the GRP successfully petitioned for the termination of their bail. On Monday, the court accepted the plea, revoked their release, and ordered their re-arrest.
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GRP personnel were posted in plain clothing outside the accused's homes in Dhule, expecting them to return, but the guys were not located. The GRP has now initiated a more extensive operation to seek and apprehend the perpetrators.
According to an official, the GRP is determined to apprehend all persons involved in the event and is actively investigating leads to bring the offenders to justice.
The senior citizen, identified as Ashraf Ali Sayyed Hussain, aged 72, stated that the accused had threatened to kill him when they were assaulting him over the suspicion of him transporting beef.
Speaking to mid-day, he said that he was en route to Kalyan to meet his daughters and was carrying two containers of buffalo meat which were covered in sack. When he was seated on the luggage rack, a group of students travelling for a police exam asked him to vacate the space. Hussain was offered space to sit elsewhere and later went to retrieve his luggage as Kalyan station neared.
The same set of students asked whether he was carrying beef, and began hurling abuses and throwing punches.
"They hit me on my face, legs, and all over my body. They hurled abuses at my mother, sister, and daughter, and prevented me from getting off at Kalyan. One of them said, 'Isko niche fenk do train se' (throw him off the train)," Hussain told the newspaper and added that he was terrified and helpless.
He added that he went to the police station with his clothes torn and that some of them followed him and threatened to file a complaint.
"The police even spoke to one of the accused. Since I was scared, I didn't file the complaint then. The cops told me to take my meat box and leave, and they let the group go after taking down their details," Hussain added and said that he only filed the complaint after realising that the accused put the video on social media.
He claimed that they had also stolen Rs 2,800 cash from him so he could afford transportation home.
