A group of local youths thrashed Ghaziabad-based Kanwad pilgrims in Roorkee for not playing songs of their choice. The incident, which took place on July 28, came to light on Tuesday after an FIR was registered against 40 unknown persons for targeting and attacking the Kanwad pilgrims.
Ghaziabad-based devotees Ajit Kumar, Saurav, Nitin, Akash, and two other Kanwad pilgrims were stopped by a group of local youths in the Narsen area of Manglaur suburb in Roorkee while returning from Haridwar with Ganga water in their vehicle. The Kanwad devotees were driving back to their homes at Loni in Ghaziabad while playing devotional songs on a DJ owned by their associate, Dev Gurjjar.
According to the Manglaur police, the group of local youths asked the Kanwad-carrying devotees to play songs of their choice instead of the devotional songs in praise of Lord Shiva. About 5-6 devotees in the vehicle refused to play anything other than Lord Shiva’s devotional songs. Their refusal infuriated the youths from Manglaur, who began to abuse the pilgrims and tried to force them to change the music, but their efforts were unsuccessful. The angry locals then attacked the Shiva devotees, causing severe injuries. The attackers also ransacked the pilgrims’ vehicle, damaging DJ sound boxes, a laptop, the vehicle’s windowpanes and lights, and other equipment and instruments inside the vehicle.
Incidentally, while the Kanwad pilgrims were being attacked by the local youths, the police failed to come to their rescue in time. A complaint was lodged by Ajit Kumar against the perpetrators. The Manglaur Kotwali police informed that the incident occurred on July 28, and an FIR was lodged against 40 local youths for attacking the Shiva devotees. According to the police, an investigation is underway to track down the attackers of the Kanwad pilgrims.