Two minor Muslim boys were detained in Uttar Pradesh’ Bareily for “listening to Pakistani songs” at their shop after a complaint by a local resident.
The cousins, aged 16 and 17, were booked and detained by the police. The teenagers run a grocery store in Singhai Murwan, Bareilly district, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Bhuta police station.
The newspaper quoted local residents saying that the songs praised the neighbouring country and it did not go down well with the complainant, who approached the police, seeking the duo’s arrest. A video of the boys listening to the songs, which was recorded surreptitiously by the complainant, soon went viral on social media.
Their cousin, who requested that he not be named, told TOI, “They played the songs without realising the consequences.”
The boys have been slapped with sections 153B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The FIR stated that when the complainant asked the two to stop listening to the songs, they allegedly started hurling abuses and said “bad things” about India.
According to the family, the two were picked up at 5 pm on Wednesday and were detained by police the whole night at the thana.
SSP of Bareilly, Rohit Singh Sajwan told the newspaper: “I do not know whether the youths were detained by the police overnight as I was told that they were being called for questioning this morning. There is a provision for serving notices in such cases as the authenticity of a video recorded is not verified. I will ask a senior cop to monitor the investigation and provide a report.”
