Police have served notices to six people who were part of a mob led by a self-proclaimed sadhu that stripped an employee of a dhaba on National Highway-58 connecting Muzaffarnagar to Dehradun to ascertain his religious identity.
The incident occurred on June 28, but police swung into action on Wednesday after videos of the incident surfaced on social media and the harassed employee shared his ordeal with reporters.
“Led by Swami Yashveer Maharaj, a group of two dozen people came to our dhaba and asked for our identity. Then they pushed me into a room, stripped me and checked whether I was circumcised or not,” Gopal Singh, a middle-aged waiter at Pandit Ji Vaishnav Dhaba at Ratheda in Uttar Pradesh, told reporters on Wednesday.
Muzaffarnagar circle officer Rupali Roy said Nai Mandi Kotwali police station had sent notices to six people.
“We have served notices to them and asked them to reply to the allegation of the employees of the dhaba within three days,” she said.
Yashveer, the “sadhu” who led the mob, said: “The man who is claiming that his name is Gopal is a Muslim. He changed his name four times when we asked him. The dhaba has a Hindu name, but its owner is a Muslim. We will sit on dharna in front of the dhaba if they don’t change its name by July 4.”
He claimed that the owner of the dhaba was Mohammad Sanwar. However, Diksha Sharma, a resident of Meerut, told reporters that the eatery belonged to her and she had sacked all Muslim employees.
Yashveer, who is head of Baghara Ashram in Muzaffarnagar district, said: “We will continue this survey as long as the Kanwar Yatra is in progress. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has already asked shopkeepers along the highway to mention their correct names on display boards, and we are helping the government.”
“We also urge the kanwariyas not to buy anything from non-sanatanis,” Yashveer, who hasn’t been served a notice, added.
The Adityanath government had last year ordered owners of all shops and dhabas along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names, addresses and mobile numbers on signboards.
Though the Supreme Court had stayed the directive, the Uttar Pradesh government had widened the ambit of the order to the entire state on the pretext of ensuring the sale of quality food.
Adityanath had last week iterated that shopkeepers and restaurateurs must declare their identities. He also said the sale of non-vegetarian food would be prohibited in the open along the highways of the state.
Reacting to the directive, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said in Delhi: “The shopkeepers get a licence from the government after providing all details. The government knows who is the owner of which shop... still such vicious orders are being issued.”