In the early hours of June 23, a 25-year-old Muslim cab driver was allegedly beaten up, robbed and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” by three men in Diva area of Thane District near Mumbai.

The victim has been identified as Faisal Usman Khan. According to media reports, the assailants were drunk and learned of Khan’s religious identity when he said “Ya Allah” when he was assaulted. He was then forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

On Tuesday, the Mumbra police arrested three accused identified as Mangesh Mundhe, 30, Anil Suryavanshi, 22, and Jaydeep Mundhe, 26. All three are residents of Agsan village in Diva. According to NDTV, Deputy Commissioner of Police SS Burse said a case has been filed under case under IPC sections 295 (hurting religious sentiments) and 392 (robbery).

Sachin Sarde, Police Sub Inspector at Mumbra police station and the investigating officer of the case, told Newslaundry: “The victim is a cab driver and came to Diva for a pick up. He picked up his passenger but his cab broke down. While he was trying to start the cab in the middle of the road, the three accused who were heavily drunk came on a two-wheeler and got into an argument with him over the cab stationed in the middle of the road. The argument led to an assault on him after which he called us and informed us about it.”

Sarde says Khan did not tell him he was forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” when he first registered a police complaint. “I was there with him on the first day to identify and trace the accused, but he never told me he was forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.” However, on June 25, Khan told the police that he had been forced to chant it. Sarde says: “We’ve arrested the accused persons. Things will get clearer in further investigation of the case.”

Indian Express quoted Khan as saying he was “in shock and was worried about the repercussions on my family” when he made his first statement to the police.

Newslaundry contacted MS Kad, Station House Officer of Mumbra police station, to ask him about the incident. Kad said the three accused robbed Khan of his phone after the assault, but that there was “no particular motive”. “They only did it because they were drunk and not in their senses. They don’t have any kind of affiliation with any political party or organisation. The whole incident happened because of the influence of alcohol.”