A Muslim delivery agent enrolled with Zomato was allegedly assaulted and held captive by four men he was delivering a parcel to in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Tuesday, reported The Quint.
The victim, Mohammad Aslam, said he was targeted because of his faith.
Zomato had not issued a comment on the matter as of Saturday evening.
Aslam claimed that the men accosted him as he delivered them a parcel in the city’s Gomti Nagar area around 1 am.
“Four men between 30-36 years of age beat me, locked me up in a room for one and a half hours, took my mobile and gave it back later and also threatened to shoot and kill me,” The Quint quoted Aslam as saying.
“When they asked me my name and they got to know I’m Muslim, they tortured me more,” he said.
The men also reportedly forced Aslam to write and sign a falsified letter claiming that he had not delivered the order on time, used offensive language with them and charged them more money than their bill.
The men paid Rs 330 to Aslam, slightly more than the Rs 294 they were billed.
The police registered a first information report based on Aslam’s complaint the following day. One of the four men, identified as Abhishek Dubey, has been arrested.
The police have booked the four men for voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“We have arrested one of the accused, identified as Abhishek Dubey, and are conducting raids to trace the other three individuals,” Gomti Nagar Station House Officer Rajesh Kumar Tripathi told The Indian Express.
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