‘He abused PM’: Jharkhand BJP wants action against man made to lick his own spit

A day after a 32-year-old Zeeshan Khan was assaulted and forced to lick his spit in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad city, the state Bharatiya Janata Party unit Saturday said that those accused in the incident were its own workers and called for action — against the victim.

Khan, who suffers from bipolar disorder, had been passing through the site of a BJP protest — over the security lapse involving the Prime Minister’s cavalcade — when he allegedly abused a party leader. The BJP workers then assaulted him, forced him to do sit-ups, lick his own spit, and chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

BJP State General Secretary Aditya Sahu Saturday said “a person” had “abused” the Prime Minister and the state party chief Deepak Prakash. He said BJP workers were booked over the incident, but complained that no action was taken against the “abuser” — referring to Khan.

Sahu said: “In Dhanbad, during a BJP program, a person abused the Prime Minister and the state party president. There was no action against him, but an FIR was registered against BJP workers. This shows that there is a conspiracy behind the incident. Is the Chief Minister worried that the person who was the abuser comes from a minority community?”

The police have arrested two persons over the incident. They refused to divulge details of those arrested.

Dhanbad SSP Sanjeev Kumar told The Indian Express: “I can only say that the persons who are arrested are named as Jeetu Shaw and Sanjay Sharma and they were produced in the court and have been sent to judicial custody. I can’t reveal anything more.”

Local MLA Raj Sinha and MP PN Singh were present during the protest on Friday. After a video of the incident was shared widely on social media, Chief Minister Hemant Soren directed officials to take action.

The FIR was registered after Khan’s younger brother Rehan filed a complaint.

Rehan told The Indian Express over the phone that the situation was “overwhelming” for the family. “There are a lot of people who are coming in. Media and political leaders…I see the political blame game, BJP vs Congress… But frankly we don’t want to be part of this. I don’t want to take matters forward,” he said.

Asked about Khan’s condition, Rehan said he was “quiet” all day. “But he does not realise the enormity of the issue and he is also unaware of the consequences of the situation.”

Rehan said his brother was in Chennai in 2012 — pursuing a diploma course — when he first showed symptoms of mental illness. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

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