The National Security Act has been invoked against three Muslim men who allegedly held a man on a leash and told him to “bark like a dog” in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, NDTV reported on Monday.
A video on social media showed the man sitting on his haunches and apologising to a group of men. The men are heard abusing him and forcing him to act like a dog.
The incident took place in the jurisdiction of the Tila Jamalpura police station in Bhopal, according to the Hindustan Times.
The victim was later identified as Vijay Ramchandani, while the accused persons were identified as Sameer Khan, Sajid, and Faizan Lal. All three have been arrested under the National Security Act, which allows for detention for up to a year without trial.
On Monday, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that “encroachments” belonging to the accused persons had been identified and would be demolished, ANI reported. He said that action would be taken against the accused persons in such a way that it would “become an example for the whole state”.
Visuals on social media showed the authorities demolishing the homes of Khan and Lal.
While there are no provisions under Indian law to demolish the home of anyone accused of a crime, this pattern has been regularly observed across states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ramchandani, in his complaint, alleged that the men beat him up, told him to convert to Islam and start eating beef. “They said I was a coward and they could have killed me that day,” he alleged, according to NDTV.
Ramchandani added: “Sameer was standing at a distance and was saying kill him, search the pockets thoroughly, you will find something.”
He alleged that three more men – Bilal, Mufid and Sahil Baccha – arrived at the spot and beat him up.
Ramchandani alleged that the accused persons demanded money at knifepoint, after which he gave them Rs 700 to Rs 800, as well as two phones.
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