Two persons have been arrested for allegedly stripping and whipping a duo with belts on the Mumbai local train system while accusing them of stealing a mobile phone days after videos of the purported episode went viral on social media.
The duo identified as Harish Sheik (24) and Nazim Sheikh (23) were arrested by Dadar Government Railway Police after a railway inquiry was launched to ascertain the time, place and the identity of the persons involved in the incident, which officials said had taken place in 2013.
Inquiries revealed that the incident had taken place on a CST-bound local and then at Parel railway station.
A person who is visible in the clippings as witnessing the incident was tracked down and he identified the two accused, who were in the business of selling fish, a GRP official said.
The accused had switched off their mobile phones after the videos of the incident surfaced on social media.
GRP laid a trap and arrested them this morning after one of the victims in the video clips, Wasim Shaikh, who was traced by the investigators, lodged a complaint yesterday, the official said.
The accused have been booked under Sections 294 and 324 of IPC.
The videos, which were apparently shot by some commuter, went viral on WhatsApp earlier this week and were also aired by some news channels.
One of the videos shows the two men purportedly whipping the duo with belts on the railway platform. The youths can be seen begging for mercy even as the men use cuss words and accuse them of stealing a mobile phone. The second clip shows the same youths being beaten up inside a local train.
