Nainital, March 17 The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday directed the state authorities to file status reports on the actions taken in all the FIRs related to the January incident involving gym operator Deepak Kumar, who gained prominence as "Mohammad Deepak" for confronting Bajrang Dal activists allegedly harassing a Muslim shopkeeper.
A single bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal was hearing Deepak's plea demanding the quashing of an FIR against him, a departmental inquiry against the police officers, and security for his family.
The court noted Deepak's statement that since the video of the incident went viral on social media, he was receiving small donations ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500 in his bank account. It directed him to submit a detailed affidavit of the total amount received in his bank account.
The incident relates to Bajrang Dal workers in Kotdwar objecting to a Muslim shopkeeper, Vakil Ahmed, naming his shop as 'Baba'. Deepak confronted them and supported Ahmed. In a video that went viral on social media, Deepak questioned the demand to change the name and said that the shop was more than 30 years old. When the crowd asked his identity, he said, "My name is Mohammad Deepak."
The Kotdwar police had registered three separate cases in the matter. The first case was filed against 30-40 unidentified people, who were involved in the protest against the shopkeeper, for allegedly disturbing public peace, obstructing government work, and manhandling police officers, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A second case was registered based on a complaint filed by local Vakil Ahmed, accusing the protesters of using abusive language and causing public disturbance.
Also, on the complaint of a local, Kamal Prasad, an FIR was registered against Deepak and his associate Vijay Rawat on charges of misbehavior, snatching a mobile phone, and criminal intimidation.
Deepak then filed the petition in the High Court. During the hearing, the court expressed skepticism about the demand for a departmental inquiry against police personnel and said that the investigation should be conducted in accordance with the law.
The court has directed the state government to submit the current status report of the investigation. The next hearing of this case will be on March 19.