Assault on Bengaluru shopkeeper over 'loud music' takes communal turn

While the police have made three arrests, there is no mention of 'Hanuman Chalisa' in the victim's complaint.

Bengaluru: An attack on a shopkeeper in central Bengaluru on Sunday took a political and communal turn as the victim blamed the assault on his playing the Hanuman Chalisa. 

While the BJP demanded action, the FIR filed by the police stated that the altercation occurred over "loud noise" on a portable speaker. 

The Halasuru Gate police, which registered the case, arrested Suleman, Shah Nawaz and Rohit, all aged between 20 and 25, for assaulting Mukesh, 26, who runs Krishna Telecom at Siddanagalli on Jama Masjid Road in Cubbonpet, senior officers told DH. 

Officials said six suspects, including the three arrested, approached the shopkeeper, Mukesh, between 6.20 pm and 7 pm and “argued with him over the loud sound and asked him to lower the volume on the portable speaker”. 

An argument ensued between the suspects and the victim, which led to a melee. Unverified CCTV footage from the shop showed some of the suspects and the victim exchanging blows. 

An FIR was subsequently registered at the Halasuru Gate police station under IPC sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means). 

Suleman, Shah Nawaz, Rohit, Danish, Taruna and others have been named in the FIR. 

However, there was no mention of playing Hanuman Chalisa either in the FIR or the written complaint seen by DH, which stated that the argument began over a "loud sound on speaker". 

On Monday, Mukesh told a few TV channels that he was “playing Hanuman Chalisa” when the suspects approached him. 

"They told me it was time for Azaan and asked me not to play it. When I told them it was not the Azaan time now, they told me not to speak unnecessarily or else they would hit me,” Mukesh said, adding some of the suspects had visited his shop before asking for free electronic devices. 

The BJP's Bangalore South MP, L S Tejasvi Surya, who met Mukesh during the day, said: "At the time of the FIR registration, since Mukesh didn’t know how to properly read Kannada, he narrated the chain of events, which were condensed into the FIR by the police. It came to light on Monday that the FIR doesn’t contain the main ingredients that he was playing Hanuman Chalisa, which led to the attack.” 

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, R Ashoka, posted on X: "Is Hanuman Chalisa banned in Karnataka CM @siddaramaiah avare? Emboldened by the appeasement politics of @INCKarnataka Govt, a violent muslim mob brutally attacked a Hindu Shopkeeper in Bengaluru for playing Hanuman Chalisa."

"After Pakistan Zindabad slogans raised in Vidhan Soudha and bomb blast in Rameshwaram Cafe, this yet another glaring example of how Congress govt has let the anti-national elements capture Bengaluru leading to complete collapse of law and order," Ashoka alleged in his post.