A 16-year-old Muslim boy was allegedly beaten up by a group of persons amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram” after he was caught boarding an express train at Bandra railway terminus with a teenage Hindu girl who they claimed was kidnapped by him, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on July 21, but came to light when its video went viral on social media on Tuesday, the police said. The boy as well as the girl, who is 17 years old, are residents of Ambarnath in neighbouring Thane district, a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer said.

“The incident took place on July 21 when the Muslim boy and the Hindu girl were caught by a group. The girl’s family members had lodged a kidnapping complaint in Ambarnath. After coming to know that the boy and the girl are at the Bandra railway terminus, a group of around a dozen people reached the spot and started assaulting the boy amid chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” another police officer said.

They bashed up the boy and dragged him out of the station by pulling his hair, he said. “Someone captured the incident on his mobile phone camera and the video went viral on social media on Tuesday, following which the local police as well as the GRP swung into action and launched a probe,” the officer said. A case was registered in Ambarnath and an investigation is on, the police said.

A GRP officer said: “The GRP is the complainant in the case as it has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.... We have identified the assaulted boy and contacted his family members.”