Three people were arrested on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) and security has been beefed up in various parts of Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal a day after hundreds of members of the Muslim community staged demonstrations protesting the assault on a man by Bajrang Dal activists on allegations of ‘love jihad’, officers said.
According to police, three men have been arrested after an FIR was filed after stone-pelting was reported during a protest in the old city area late on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), while the police are working to identify and detain more people allegedly involved.
Ayush Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Bhopal zone 1, told The Hindu that searches are being conducted to detain more suspects.
“We are also analysing video footage to identify more people. We are also holding dialogue with the city Qazi and other leaders of the community,” he said, adding that the situation is currently calm on the ground.
Mr. Gupta said that adequate security arrangements have been made in the sensitive areas to prevent any untoward event.
Places like Aishbagh, Jahangirabad and areas near Taj-ul-Masajid and Hamidia hospital have the highest deployment, with Bittu Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Jahangirabad, saying that the police are maintaining a tight vigil in the sensitive areas.
“We anyway have personnel at many of these locations. 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 marched to the Police Commissioner’s office to demonstrate.
Following sloganeering outside his office, Commissioner Sanjay Kumar met the protestors and assured them of an investigation into the case. The Muslim community has also alleged 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 has also alleged use of objectionable terms in the videos, which they claim were insulting to Islam, and demanded that the accused be arrested within 24 hours.
On May 10, several right-wing activists barged into a private hotel’s room and caught Arif Khan, 27, with his friend, a woman from the Hindu community. The men dragged Mr. Khan out of the hotel and physically assaulted him, apart from putting cow dung on him. Multiple videos of the incident went viral on the internet, with some showing the assault continuing even after police intervention.
An FIR was lodged at Govindpura police station on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) under BNS Section 299, following a complaint from Mr. Nadwi.
The Hindu has also learnt that while the woman and Mr. Khan did not lodge any complaint against the accused, the former told the police that she was in a consensual relationship with him for the past few years.
‘Love jihad’ is a term coined by the Hindu outfits accusing Muslim men of “luring” Hindu women into relationships with them.
Published – May 14, 2026 03:49 am IST
