Wayanad: The police have suo motu registered a case against five members of the Bajrang Dal for allegedly abusing and threatening to chop off the legs of a tribal youth who was working as a volunteer with a Pentecostal mission group among tribal children in Kuppadi. 

The incident happened in April when Aneesh, a native of the Kalluvayal tribal settlement, visited the Cherukad tribal settlement to take children to a study centre run by the mission group. Aneesh has been working among tribal children in the region for several years.

While returning from the settlement, a group of five Bajrang Dal activists approached him, Aneesh told Onmanorama. He added that they threatened to cut off his legs if he continued taking tribal children to the study centre and teaching them songs, stories, or conducting quiz competitions based on the Holy Bible.

The visuals of the incident resurfaced on social media and gained traction after two Christian nuns were arrested in Durg, Chhattisgarh, allegedly under pressure from Bajrang Dal activists and slapped with charges of forceful conversion and human trafficking.

Sulthan Bathery DySP Abdul Shereef told Onmanorama that police registered a case on Saturday evening and started the investigation based on the visuals. "The investigation is progressing", he said. Sub Inspector Sobin said that a few among the accused have already been identified. "We are yet to register the statement of the victim, and the further procedures would follow later", he said.

Interestingly, the Sulthan Bathery police had settled the issue amicably in April after being alerted by local residents. Neither Aneesh nor the Pentecostal mission group was willing to file a complaint at the time, the police said. 

The accused have been slapped with Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for wantonly giving provocation with an intent to cause a riot. They also face charges under Section 351(3), which deals with criminal intimidation, and Section 3(5) for threatening harm, destruction of property, or other offences.