15 booked for thrashing three men by calling them fake GST officials

After the October 9 incident when three Khanna-based persons were beaten up by some dry fruit shopkeepers and some miscreants at the Kesar Ganj market, accusing them of being fake GST officials, the city police yesterday registered a case against 15 unknown assailants. During the incident, shopkeepers had called the police on the spot, which took them to the police station for further investigation.

When the matter was investigated, a shocking revelation came to light. Some mischievous youths had spread false rumours in the market about the men who had come to buy dry fruits and got them beaten up by calling them fake GST officers.

Complainant Harcharan Singh, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, Khanna, said that on October 9, he had gone to the Kesar Ganj market in his car with his friends Ashish Verma and Gurjant Singh to buy dry fruits. While he was buying dry fruits, some mischievous youths entered the shop. Without asking anything, those youths accused him and his friends of being fake GST officers, which led to a commotion. After hearing the noises, many other shopkeepers also reached the spot and the shopkeepers and passersby started beating them without asking anything.

Harcharan said that, “My turban fell off during the fight. The shopkeepers gave wrong information to the mediapersons and recorded the video and broadcast it live on social media. By doing this, the miscreants have tarnished our image in the public.”

Meanwhile, investigating officer ASI Baljinder Singh said that investigation was on to identify the assailants.