Hyderabad: Two days after 19-year-old Mohd Rashid was allegedly attacked by a group of people during a Ganesh immersion procession in Charminar, police stated that the attack weapon was a spoon and not a beer bottle as mentioned earlier in the FIR.
It was business as usual for sweet-corn seller Rashid on the night of September 28. As Hyderabad bid farewell to Lord Ganesha, an immersion procession passed by Laad Bazar where Rashid’s roadside stall stood.
According to initial reports, Rashid was attacked by a group of youngsters who were accompanying a Ganesh idol procession from the Hussain Alam side. He received injuries on his head and hands.
On Saturday, September 30, a day after the police filed an FIR, Siasat.com spoke to Rashid who said that he was initially approached by two people for sweet corn. “Two people from the procession came and asked sweet corns. After that another person tried to take away my stall. When I revolted they hit me with a beer bottle on my head and I started bleeding,” said Rashid, adding all of them were drunk.
Rashid’s friends – Irfan and Abbu – were witnesses of the incident. “Suddenly some 25 people came and started attacking us,” Rashid claimed.
The following day, the Charminar police filed an FIR clearly stating that the teenager was hit by a beer bottle by a person and was thrashed by a few others from the same group.
But the police now have a different version of the incident. Speaking to Siasat.com, Charminar SHO K Chandra Shekar said that there was no beer bottle involved.
“There is a mistake in the FIR copy. As per the copy, Rashid was attacked by a beer bottle but our investigations revealed that he was hit by a spoon. We have identified the person through CCTV cameras. He is currently on the run,” the police officer said.
The police refuted Rashid’s claims that he was attacked by a group of 25 people and they were drunk. “Nobody was drunk and nobody got attacked by 25 people,” the police officer said.
According to the FIR copy, a case was registered under sections 343 (Wrongful confinement for three or more days), 324 (person is voluntarily hurt by the use of a dangerous weapon or means), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
The video of Rashid’s injury went viral on social media where a person alleges the sweet corn seller was hit by a knife.
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