Gujarat: Major police action in case of targeting of interfaith couples, 14 more people arrested – 14 More Apprehended Over Targeting Of Interfaith Couples In Gujarat IG News

500 people were involved in the group

On August 28, three group administrators of the WhatsApp group ‘Army of Mahdi’, Mustaqeem Shaikh, Burhan Sayyed and Sahil Shaikh, were arrested after a video of an interfaith couple went viral on ‘X’. The gang used to target such couples and share their videos on ‘Army of Mahdi’ as a warning. Gehlot said that the main accused first formed a group named ‘Hussaini Army’, which had about 500 members.

He said that their (accused) aim was to keep an eye on women of their own religion if they were seen with a man of another religion. Members tracked the movements of such couples using their vehicle numbers and passed this information on to other members of the group living in the area where the couple passed.

Such groups are also active in Anand, Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts.

A senior police officer said that in the name of moral policing, these people used to stop couples, beat them up and post their videos on social media. They would call the woman’s parents to blackmail them (to force the woman to end the relationship). Such groups were also active in Anand, Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts. He said the video shared by the accused could increase the possibility of lynching and communal clashes.

Earlier the DCP had said that the accused specifically targeted women of their own religion as a form of moral policing and investigation was underway to find out whether they had extorted money on the basis of such videos. Where did he get the inspiration to run such a group is being investigated.