A Muslim youth was brutally beaten and forced to chant Jai Sri Ram by a mob belonging to the Hindutva outfit Bajrang Dal, which is notorious for targeting individuals from minority communities, and one of the main accused seen in the video circulated on social media has been arrested on charges of extorting money from the victim in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly.
Police identified the main accused as Rishabh Thakur, and while confirming his arrest, they stated that further detentions are likely as investigations continue to unravel what officials described as an organised group operating under the pretext of religious vigilantism, according to Maktoob media.
According to the First Information Report and police accounts, the incident occurred on the evening of March 28 within the Cantonment police station limits, where the victim, Shoaib, a Dubai-based worker visiting the area, was allegedly intercepted in a public space by a group of men.
The assailants assaulted him, hurled communal abuse, and coerced him into raising Hindutva slogans, while simultaneously recording the ordeal and disseminating the footage across social media platforms, where it went viral.
The video shows individuals identifying themselves with Bajrang Dal, who confronted the youth and accused him of engaging in what they termed “Love Jihad”, invoking local warnings against interfaith associations and employing both physical intimidation and verbal threats.
The group forced Shoaib to recite religious slogans and declare that all Hindu women were his sisters. Preliminary findings suggest that the youth was targeted because of his acquaintance with a local Hindu woman, although no woman appears in the circulated footage.
Meanwhile, the woman’s father, Vijendra Singh, initially lodged a separate complaint alleging abusive behaviour by the accused, yet later distanced himself from the case, asserting that neither he nor his daughter knew Thakur and that the matter had been resolved. Police, however, indicated that the change in stance could have occurred under pressure.
Authorities registered an FIR under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions relating to assault, criminal intimidation and extortion, with the victim alleging that Rs 7,000 in cash was taken and an additional ₹2,000 transferred online under duress. Acting on a tip-off, police arrested Thakur near Kathpula bridge on March 29, recovering Rs 3,300 and a mobile phone from his possession.
Officials further revealed that Thakur had already been externed from the district in an earlier case, and his presence within the jurisdiction led to additional charges under the Uttar Pradesh Goonda Act.