A railway court in the city of Kalyan near Mumbai on Monday cancelled the bail granted to three men who were allegedly among a group of persons who assaulted and abused an elderly Muslim man on a train last week.
The Muslim man, 72-year-old Ashraf Ali Sayyed Hussain, was attacked on August 28 on a train near the town of Igatpuri in Nashik district by men who claimed he was carrying beef. A video of the assault went viral on August 31, after which several social media users urged the police to take stringent action.
On September 1, three men identified as Akash Ahwad, Nilesh Ahire and Jayesh Mohite were arrested, according to The Wire. However, they were released on bail on the same day as they were booked under bailable sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to unlawful assembly, rioting, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, criminal intimidation and mischief.
The Government Railway Police subsequently added two more sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on uttering words intended to hurt religious sentiments, and robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt. Of these, the second provision is non-bailable.
On Monday, the Government Railway Police filed an application before the Kalyan railway court demanding that the bail granted to the accused men be cancelled. The court held that the presence of the accused men was necessary for further investigation, and cancelled the bail.
A copy of the order was shared on social media by Jitendra Awhad, a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), who had met the railway police late on Sunday to ask why they did not take action on their own after a video of the assault went viral.
Investigating officer Archana Dusane told The Times of India that the railway police have identified two more accused persons from Maharashtra’s Dhule district, who will be arrested soon.