Bajrang Dal activists insult, manhandle couples in Kanpur
KANPUR: Valentine’s Day turned out to be a nightmare for several couples on Saturday as Bajrang Dal activists manhandled and insulted them at different places in the city.
Couples were seen being chased out of parks, the Ganga barrage (a popular picnic spot) and other isolated places — despite police assurance to provide security. At some places, the Bajrang Dal men assaulted the lovebirds, with some of them sustaining injuries.
Upon receiving an SOS call, the Kotwali police, headed by station house officer Hari Ram Verma, rushed to a mall at Bara Chauraha and forced the Bajrang Dal men to leave the place. Sources said about 30 Bajrang Dal activists roamed around the city on bikes, threatening and terrorising couples along the route. At Ganga Barrage, they misbehaved with several couples and even hurled expletives at girls.
The miscreants later reached the zoo where they beat up a man and forced his partner to touch the feet of all activists. They asked the couples several religious questions to take stock of their religious knowledge. At Motijheel, they misbehaved with a man and his sister-in-law whom they compelled to touch their feet before chasing them away.
Kanpur’s IG Ashutosh Pandey has ordered action against the culprits.