Ahmedabad — A Muslim auto-rickshaw driver was threatened, abused and attacked for picking up a passenger from a Hindu locality of Ghatlodia area of Ahmedabad in India’s Gujarat state on Tuesday.
48-year-old rickshaw driver, Mohammed Arif Qureshi, a resident of Biscuit Gali near Pankornaka in Karanj area, said that an unknown man came and started abusing him and yelling at him “How can a Muslim drive and earn money in Ghatlodia”, when Qureshi stopped to board a passenger.
When Qureshi didn’t sccumb to the abuses the man got an iron rod, fortunately, Qureshi evaded the attack but fare-meter of his auto-rickshaw got damaged.
To aviod any legal hassle, Qureshi approached a city-based lawyer Imtiaz pathan, who helped him reach Police commissioner AK Singh.
“At around 2pm, a passenger waved at me to stop the rickshaw. I stopped my autorickshaw and asked him where he wanted to go. The passenger said he wanted to go to Delhi Darwaja and I told him to get in,” said Qureshi in the Police complaint.
“Suddenly, a man rushed there and asked me on how can I, being a Muslim, roam in Ghatlodia and take passengers from here. To this, I told him that I had stopped as the passenger had waved at me to stop. He then got angry at me and abused me. Before I could realise anything, he came up with an iron rod and tried to attack me. I evaded the attack and drove off but my autorickshaw meter was damaged in the attack,” Qureshi stated in the complaint.
Police filed Section 294(b) and 427 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused, however they didn’t file Section 153-A for promoting enmity between two different religions. —Based on inputs from TOI.
