Santosh Pandey, an accused in a case in which a Varanasi-based group allegedly shaved the head of a Nepali citizen, wrote ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on his scalp, forced him to raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, recorded a video of it and uploaded it on the internet, has reportedly been arrested.
According to ANI, the Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police, on Friday, 17 July, directed the inquiry into the incident to be conducted by the senior-most police officer of Varanasi district.
Nepal’s ambassador to India had previously reached out to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to discuss the incident. CM Adityanath, according to a tweet later retweeted by ambassador Nilambar Acharya, had assured safety of Nepali nationals in his state.
The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. As evident from the video, the man, sitting cross-legged, without a shirt on, was also asked to raise slogans that are pro-India and anti-Prime Minister KPS Oli.
According to The Hindu, the video was recorded and shared on Facebook by Arun Pathak, the convenor of Varanasi-based fringe group Vishwa Hindu Sena.
Pathak also, reportedly, encouraged his followers to do the same with other Nepalis in order to teach Oli a lesson. The Varanasi police has reportedly registered an FIR against Arun Pathak under Sections 505(2) and 295 of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
The news that few people in Varanasi shaved the head of Nepali youth is highly deplorable. FIR has been registered against the main accused and he is absconding. pic.twitter.com/M9AaT4ghSZ
— Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) July 17, 2020
Vikas Chandra Tripathi, Varanasi, City SP, reportedly told ANI that efforts to arrest Arun Pathak are underway.
