A week after a 57-year-old Muslim taxi driver from Agra was allegedly harassed and assaulted for refusing to chant Jai Sri Ram, the main accused, Rohit Thakur, has been arrested.

In a video that went viral two days after it had been uploaded, Thakur could be heard asking an Raheesh Khan to chant Jai Sri Ram. When the cabbie expressed reluctance and tried to drive away, asking Thakur to ‘mind his business’, Thakur said, “In two or three days, you will have to say Jai Sri Ram”. Thakur uploaded the video on his Facebook page with the caption, “These are the real terrorists”.

According to Khan’ testimony to Dainik Bhaskar, Thakur, who was accompanied by another individual, went on to assault him. “…When I refused (to say Jai Sri Ram), they pulled my beard and slapped me,” he said.

Khan, a cab driver for 38 years, bought his own car a month ago on a loan. He usually takes passengers from the Agra Cantonment Station to the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, and Mathura. On the day of the incident, he had picked up tourists from Agra Cantt railway station to the Taj Mahal Metro parking. As he was parking the car, Thakur and his compatriot approached him.

Journalist Madan Mohan Soni, who primarily covers Uttar Pradesh, tweeted on December 2 that Thakur had been arrested by Agra Police.

Thakur’s Facebook page openly proclaims his support for the BJP. In a video he posted shortly after the incident, he can be heard using slurs while filming Muslim visitors at the Red Fort. At one point, he stops a man and asks him to say Jai Sri Ram in the same manner, and the man can be seen complying.

In one video uploaded on November 24 as well, he is seen loudly saying that Taj Mahal is actually Tejo Mahalay, a claim that is rampant among the Right-wing ecosystem. While filming this, Thakur is seen trying to force a Muslim man into his frame as the former walks away. In another, he is seen saying that the Shahjahan Garden at the Taj Mahal should be renamed the Shiv Garden.

In a video dated November 19, Thakur is seen asking a Muslim woman to say Jai Sri Ram, and she complies. He then drapes a scarf bearing the same slogan around her shoulders. In a subsequent video, he claims that the Taj Mahal souvenir she is holding is a “lie,” asserting instead that it is actually Tejo Mahalay.

This article has been republished from Alt News. Read the original article here. 

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