Police in Meerut have registered a case against 25 Bajrang Dal activists after they tried to communalise a case of alleged harassment and chanted Hanuman Chalisa in front of a police station. Jitendra Kumar Singh, the in-charge of Meerut police station in Uttar Pradesh, said: “The Bajrang Dal members staged a dharna at the police station and recited the Hanuman Chalisa on Tuesday evening. Their protest was against some youths who had misbehaved with two girls. Although the police were probing the case after receiving a complaint from the parents of the girls, the protesting youths were not ready to listen to us.”

“We have registered a case against 25 Bajrang Dal members — 10 identified and 15 unidentified persons — for creating law and order problems and preventing the police from performing their duty,” the officer added.

Arjun Singh Rana, district joint secretary of the Bajrang Dal, told local reporters: “The police were not ready to register a case and got activated only after we staged a dharna and chanted the Hanuman Chalisa. The criminals were from a particular community that is involved in this kind of crimes across west Uttar Pradesh.”

“We returned home when the police registered an FIR against three persons and promised us that they would be arrested within a few hours,” Rana added.

The police said they had arrested Arzu Mohammad, Mohammad Gulfam and Mohammad Samir from the Azadnagar area of Meerut city and sent them to jail on the charge of molesting two sisters when they were returning from coaching.

The father of the girls said: “Three youths misbehaved with my daughters on Sunday evening but the police refused to accept my complaint when I went there twice — on Sunday evening and on Monday afternoon. The Bajrang Dal members somehow came to know about it and reached the police station on Tuesday. I learnt about the protest on Tuesday night when someone called me to inform that the criminals had been arrested.”

“The three youths have motorcycles, wear colourful clothes and misbehave with every girl who goes to the coaching centre. We know many girls who have discontinued their education because of such elements,” the father added.