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Man, son attacked for asking people at bakery to wear mask

HT Correspondent

htreporters@hindustantimes.com

Gurugram : Two men suffered injuries after a group of men allegedly assaulted them following an argument over wearing masks in Shivpuri area on Wednesday evening.

Sector 4 resident Dharmender Kumar, who is the complainant in the case, said, “On the way from my office on Basai road, I stopped at a bakery. As I approached the counter, I noticed that a man standing next to me was not wearing a mask. I politely told him to wear a mask and take all precautions of social distancing. Another person was with him. They started misbehaving and arguing, and then called several aides. They all attacked me and my son (22-year-old Kush Kumar). They were not carrying rods but we were hit with some object, due to which I got stitches on my ear, and my son also suffered injuries on his nose and face.”

Police said a the incident happened at around 8.30pm. A case was registered but no arrests were made till Thursday night.

In the FIR, Dharmender, who is a lawyer, said, “One of the men told an aide to get a gun from the car. A crowd had gathered by then and someone informed the police, following which the suspects escaped.”

Police said according to the medico-legal case (MLC) report, the complainant and his son suffered injuries and were treated for it. Their condition was stable.

A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, “We are verifying the allegations. The footage of the incident is hazy and the audio is not clear. The victims alleged that the suspects were not wearing a mask and an argument escalated over the issue. One of the accused men does appear to be wearing a mask in the footage but it is not worn properly and does not appear to be covering his nose and mouth. Several men can be seen pushing the victims.”

A case was registered against the accused under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code at New Colony police station on Wednesday late night, said police.

In another incident, three men were booked for allegedly kidnapping and beating up a field technician of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) in sector 65 area on Monday. Police said an FIR was registered on Tuesday after the victim filed a police complaint.

According to the police, the victim, a native of Uttar Pradesh, said that on Monday, he was resolving a complaint near a private school in sector 65, when three men arrived and started assaulting him. He alleged that they threatened to kill him if he arrived at the spot again. Police did not identify the victim.

Subash Boken, spokesperson, city police, said, “According to the complaint, after assaulting him, the accused men took him to his house forcibly but he managed to escape. An FIR has been registered at sector 65 police station. The suspects have been identified but are yet to be arrested.”