An Indian Army soldier and his friend were arrested on Tuesday, September 26, after the former lodged a fake assault complaint against a group of people who wrote ‘PFI’ on his back with green paint.
‘PFI’, Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic political organisation, was banned by the Centre for a period of five years, last year.
The main accused – Shine Kumar from Kollam district in Kerala – claimed he was beaten by a six-member gang on Sunday night.
However, his statement turned out to be false after police during investigations realised several discrepancies in his statement. Later, Kumar’s friend Joshy revealed to the police the entire act was a sham and the soldier planned the whole thing to gain ‘fame’.
Giving details of what allegedly transpired, Joshy claimed that Kumar asked him to write ‘PFI’ on his back and to beat him up.
“I was drunk, so I initially wrote DFI, but he (Kumar) said to write PFI. So I made it PFI. Then he asked me to beat him up, but I said I couldn’t because I was drunk,” Joshy told media.
“Then he asked me to drag him on the ground and lay down, but I could not in my intoxicated state. So he asked me to tape his mouth and hands and then to leave. So I did that,” Joshy said.
The alleged incident occurred on the last day of Kumar’s vacation. He was supposed to return to his unit at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Monday. Kumar is posted in the Army’s Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) Corps.
(With PTI inputs)
