Mumbai: Thane Police rounded up nearly 80 Muslims on Wednesday night after a chain snatching incident involving two men looking like Balochs took place.
Those rounded up were illegally detained for hours.
Muslim males, including several minors, were detained at the Mumbra police station for over four hours, apparently to nab chain-snatchers.
But those who were detained, alleged, it was done to instigate them and stoke communal feelings, reports the Indian Express.
Mumbra is 30 km from Mumbai and 80 per cent of its 9 lakh people are Muslims.
Angry residents have filed a complaint, based on which Thane Police Commissioner Vijay Kamble has ordered an inquiry.
Sameena Khan, who lives in Akbar Apartments from where 45 people were detained, said, “I was fast asleep. My husband, who is recuperating from typhoid, was discharged from hospital the same night. The police came screaming at our doors, dragged my husband out, shoved him inside the van and drove away. They did not even let him change his clothes.”
She claimed policemen were waving batons at those who resisted and used bolt-cutters to break into a few houses.
