The Maharashtra Police detained four persons on Sunday for assaulting a Muslim food delivery executive in Nanded , reported The Indian Express.
A first information report was registered on Sunday after Amran Tamboli, a law student who also works as a part-time food delivery executive for Zomato, was assaulted on March 7, the day when Holi was celebrated in Maharashtra.
Tamboli claimed that he was attacked because of his religion, reported the newspaper. He told The Indian Express that he was attacked by the four men after he completed his delivery in Bajrang Nagar area.
“We did not even have a discussion which could have possibly aggravated the situation; they suddenly came and started attacking,” he said. “After the incident, my Zomato team leader took me to the hospital and the same evening, I went to the police station to lodge a complaint.”
The incident was also recorded on a Closed Circuit Television or CCTV. The footage shows one of the men forcibly applying colour on Tamboli’s beard and forehead, reported The Times of India.
The police have booked the four persons under Sections 323 and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. However, the police have claimed that the incident does not have a communal angle.
“The four accused were drunk and under the influence of some substance,” Superintendent of police Srikrishna Kokate told The Indian Express. “The miscreants have been detained now. In fact, one of the accused is a criminal on our record. Going forward, we will submit a chargesheet in the court.”
The police are yet to record detailed statements from witnesses and collect supplementary statements of the Zomato employee, Additional Superintendent of Police Abhinash Kumar told the newspaper.
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