Member of right-wing group arrested for harassing street vendor

A member of a local right-wing outfit was arrested for allegedly harassing an elderly street vendor, hours after a video of the incident went viral on social media, police said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Tushar Shukla, a member of Hindu Samanway Samiti, was arrested on Wednesday, police said.

Station House Officer of Govind Nagar Police station, Rohit Tiwari said, ''We arrested Shukla hours after a video of him harassing a vendor and asking him to close his shop went viral.'' The accused, in the video, is seen asking those nearby, ''Why are you, as Hindus, not stopping these people (Muslims)?'' Shukla told police that the incident is of Tuesday and he is not involved in making or circulating the video.

The arrest was made on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Anu Rathi, they said.

The case was lodged under the Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence).

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