Three people were arrested on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) and security was beefed up in various parts of Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, a day after hundreds of members of the Muslim community staged demonstrations to protest the assault of a Bajrang Dal activist on allegations of “love jihad”, police said.
Three men have been arrested after stone-throwing was reported during a protest in the Old City area on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), police said, while police work to identify and detain others allegedly involved.
Ayush Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Bhopal Zone 1, told The Hindu that searches are being conducted to nab more suspects.
“We are also analyzing the video footage to identify more people. We are also having a dialogue with the city Qazi and other community leaders,” he said, adding that the situation at the site is currently calm.
Mr. Gupta said that adequate security measures have been taken in sensitive areas to avoid any untoward incident.
Places like Aishbagh, Jahangirabad and areas near the Taj-ul-Masajid and Hamidia Hospital have the highest deployment, with Bittu Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police (AKT), Jahangirabad, saying police are maintaining strict vigil in sensitive areas.
“Anyway, we have personnel at many of these places. Some extra deployment has been done to maintain peace in the area,” Ms Sharma said.
A large number of Muslim community members led by city Qazi Sayed Mushtaq Ali Nadwi gathered near Hamidia Hospital on Tuesday evening (May 12, 2026) and later went on a demonstration to the Police Commissioner’s office.
Commissioner Sanjay Kumar met the protesters outside his office after raising slogans and assured them of an investigation into the case. The Muslim community also claimed that the FIR filed in the assault case was against unidentified persons and under lenient provisions despite several videos of the assault being available.
The community also alleged that objectionable language was used in the videos, which they claim insult Islam, and demanded that the accused be arrested within 24 hours.
On May 10, several right-wing activists barged into a private hotel room and caught Arif Khan, 27, with his girlfriend, a woman from the Hindu community. The men dragged Mr. Khan out of the hotel and physically assaulted him, besides pouring cow dung on him. Several videos of the incident have circulated online, some of which show the attack continuing even after the police intervened.
An FIR under Section 299 of the BNS was lodged at the Govindpur police station on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) on the complaint of Mr. Nadwi.
The Hindu also learned that while the woman and Mr Khan did not file any complaint against the accused, the former told the police that she had been in a consensual relationship with him for the past few years.
“Love Jihad” is a term coined by Hindu organizations accusing Muslim men of “luring” Hindu women into relationships with them.
Published – 14 May 2026 03:49 IST
