Muslim youth beaten for 'trying to enter' Navratri event in UP

A Muslim youth was allegedly beaten up by members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur at a Navratri-related event, police said on Saturday.

The incident happened on Friday at Lajpat Bhavan in Swaroop Nagar when private guards and volunteer staff were checking the visitors' identities to prevent any non-Hindus from entering the venue, they said.

Purported videos of the incident shared on social media showed a man being beaten up while being questioned about his religion.

Motijheel police outpost in-charge, Ravi Kumar, has lodged an FIR against unknown men for assaulting unidentified youngsters at the event, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Dinesh Tirpathi said on Saturday.

Instructions have been issued to identify those were beaten up and call them to record their statements, the DCP said.

In a statement, Yuvraj Dwivedi, VHP's district secretary (Kanpur North), claimed to have carried out checks at 'garba' and 'dandia' venues during the ongoing Navratri festival in the city to prevent people from other religions from participating in the celebrations.

Despite being warned, several youngsters were spotted at the venue and they were forcibly stopped from getting entry into the event, he added.