Elder Muslim Man Thrashed In Ghaziabad, Beard Cut Off For Not Chanting 'Jai Shri Ram'; Video Surfaces

A video has surfaced online where an elderly Muslim man is being assaulted by 2 men. Later, the miscreants cut off the old man's beard.

Screenshot of the video shared online

Ghaziabad: In a heart-wrenching incident, an elderly Muslim man in Loni was brutally assaulted in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district by miscreants. The man identified as Abdul Samad was thrashed on June 5 while on his way to a mosque to offer prayers.

A video has of the brutal incident is being shared on social media along with Abdul Samad narrating his ordeal. Samad can be heard saying in the video ,"attackers abducted him from an autorickshaw and dragged him to a hut in a nearby forested area, assaulted him and forced him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram’ and 'Vande Mataram' as they punched and beat him with wooden sticks.

The video shows at least two other young men attacking Samad - one wearing a black shirt and red trousers, and another in a light-blue T-shirt and grey trousers. ABP News couldn't verify the authenticity of the video.

Reports suggest that the attackers accused Samad of being a Pakistani spy. One of the attackers threatened the elderly man with a knife.

The Ghaziabad police have registered a case and arrested one person - Pravesh Gujjar - in this regard. A search operation is being conducted to 

Samad also alleged that attackers cut his beard and also showed him a video of other Muslims being attacked.

"I was on my way when an auto-rickshaw driver offered me a lift. Later two more men got inside the auto and told me to stay. Then they took me to a jungle and locked me up in a room and thrashed me. They asked me to chant Jai Shri Ram and Vande Matram…They snatched my phone and broke my watch. They then got scissors and cut my beard,” a visibly petrified Samad narrated the incident, breaking down into tears.

“They also threatened to kill me. They showed a video of them attacking other Muslims,” he added.

Atul Kumar Sonkar, a senior police officer from Loni, said "required steps" were being taken and one of the accused is in jail and a search operation is underway. However, later the tweet was removed from Ghaziabad police's Twitter handle.

In the recent past also there have been many acts of violence reported over religious differences.