After Social Media Uproar, Bareilly Police to Hunt Right-Wing Attackers in Birthday Party Assault

Lucknow: Members of a right-wing group gate-crashed a birthday party of a female nursing student, 20, at a cafe in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh. Several videos of the incident surfaced on social media where over a dozen men could be seen storming into a cafe in the Prem Nagar area in the district on 27 December 2025.

The video shows men attending the birthday party being brutally assaulted, completely unprovoked, before the police finally intervened.

One of the persons leading the mob has been identified as Rishabh Thakur, a Bajrang Dal member who is said to have been expelled from the outfit in a disciplinary action over a fortnight ago.

Ironically, Bareilly police acted against the victims and two Muslim friends of the nursing student who were attending the birthday party. In addition, a café staffer was challaned for breach of peace at Premnagar police station.

In UP's Bareilly, a mob of Bajrang Dal stormed a cafe and, accusing of "Love-Jihad", began assualting two Muslim boys who happened to be at the party. Bareilly police took exemplary action and challaned the Muslim boys for breach of peace. pic.twitter.com/q3aFwdC107

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 28, 2025

It is only after a social media uproar that police decided to file a case against the men who had disrupted the birthday party and assaulted the attendees.

"We have identified the people seen attacking inside the cafe and an FIR is being registered. We have sought a reply from the concerned SHO on why action was not taken against the accused. He informed us that they had fled the scene. Strict action will be taken against the actual culprits," Bareilly Superintendent of Police (City) Manush Pareek told The Wire.

On December 28, 2025, based on the complaint of the café owner Shailendra Gangwar, an FIR under sections related to criminal trespass, assault and physical assault of the Bhartiya Nyaay Sanhita (BNS) was registered against Rishabh Thakur, Deepak Pathak and around 20 unidentified persons.

An FIR was filed on Decembeer 28 at 2 pm based on the complaint of the cafe owner where the attack occurred a day earlier.

According to the nursing student, a resident of Badaun district, her birthday celebration went for a toss as a mob ambushed them inside the cafe and assaulted her friends. "They suddenly arrived during the birthday party and began accusing us of love jihad. Barring two Muslim friends, most of the guests were Hindus. They brutally assaulted my friends who sustained fractures," she said.

Statement of the girl whose birthday party was gate-crashed by right wing groups in Bareilly, UP.

"They stormed the cafe, began assualting my friends and startwd accusing of "Love-Jihad". They tried to harass and snatch my phone. Most of the guests were Hindu and there were… https://t.co/dfDAEdtdF8 pic.twitter.com/A9tT2mureb

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 28, 2025

According to Ashish Sharma, gau raksha pramukh (lead cow protector) in the city unit of Bajrang Dal in Bareilly, there were members of the outfit at the scene but they were not part of group that attacked the birthday attendees.

"We got a tip-off that there were ten or twelve Muslim boys at a birthday party of a Hindu girl. Bajrang Dal karyakartas arrived at the cafe and alerted the police following which the Muslim boys were detained," Sharma said.

Reacting to the assault, Sharma said, "The Hindu girl was not assaulted. But the Muslim boys were slapped two or three times. Bajrang Dal members were not part of the assault."