Ghaziabad: Three VHP members suffer bullet injuries after attack in Khoda village, four arrested
The victims said they were attacked for opposing the 'illegal' construction of a mosque, however, the police held that it was a road rage incident.
Three Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists suffered bullet injuries at Khoda village in Ghaziabad on Sunday night after an altercation with unidentified men, reported The Indian Express. The victims have claimed that they were attacked for opposing the “unauthorised” construction of a mosque in the neighbourhood.
The police, however, maintained that is was a road rage incident. Four people have been arrested in connection with the case, said Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar told The Indian Express.
One of the victims, Rakesh Kumar, said he believed he was attacked because he had filed a complaint against the “illegal construction” of a mosque in Deepak Vihar on Friday, reported Hindustan Times. “[The attackers] started beating me with hockey sticks and bats on my head and hands,” Kumar said. Abhishek Mishra was shot at on his left leg, while his brother Vikas Mishra suffered bullet injuries to the head and leg.
The injured were treated at Kailash Hospital in Noida. VHP’s Ghaziabad unit president Umanandan Kaushik said the police were trying to divert from the “core issue”. Investigators have yet to verify the victims’ claims. The police said the construction of the mosque had now been stopped, HT reported.
