New Delhi: In a dramatic turn of events regarding the controversy over assault on two religious ‘Kathavachak’ (religious story narrator) in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district, police have now registered a case of fraud against the victims themselves for allegedly concealing their caste. The FIR, lodged at Bakewar police station, accused the two narrators Mukut Mani Yadav and his assistant Sant Singh Yadav of obtaining fake Aadhaar cards and concealing their caste identity during the Bhagwat Katha event.
The incident took place on June 21 in Dadarpur village under the Bakewar area, where the two were conducting a religious discourse. Midway through the event, some attendees accused the duo of hiding their caste. Tensions escalated quickly and both men were allegedly beaten and had their heads tonsured by angry villagers.
Assault videos went viral
Videos of the assault soon went viral on social media. It sparked outrage and prompted police action against the accused. Four individuals involved in the attack were arrested and sent to jail. However, with new allegations emerging about the use of forged documents, the police have now turned their attention towards the kathavachak.
According to police sources, preliminary investigations suggest that the duo may have used fake Aadhar identification to pass themselves off as members from Brahmin community.
Four arrest made in case
The Etawah police have arrested four villagers Ashish Tiwari (21), Uttam Kumar Awasthi (19), Nikki Awasthi (30) and Manu Dubey (24), under orders from SSP Brijesh Kumar Srivastava. The FIR was registered at Bakewar police station for shaving the head of the storytellers and assaulting them.
SSP Srivastava said the authorities are conducting a thorough investigation into the assault and viral video. He said that such discriminatory acts would not be tolerated. He also announced that the accused have been arrested.
#WATCH | Etawah, Uttar Pradesh: SSP Brijesh Kumar Srivastava says, “Yesterday, a video went viral on social media in which two people were beaten up and villagers cut their hair. Our media cell took cognisance of it, and police officers were sent to the spot. It was found that a… pic.twitter.com/7gHkS966Pf
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2025
Akhilesh Yadav rails against UP govt
The incident has triggered a political slugfest. Former chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav denounced it as a “targeted assault on the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) community”. SP chief also personally met the victims in Lucknow and presented them with Rs 51,000 each as financial support. He called on the centre and Uttar Pradesh government to enact stricter laws protecting the underprivileged communities from caste based violence.
“If strict action is not taken in the next three days, we will call for a big movement to ‘protect the honour of PDA’. Nothing is bigger than the value of PDA!” Yadav said in a post on “X”.
इटावा के बकेवर इलाके के दान्दरपुर गांव में भागवत कथा के दौरान कथावाचक और उनके सहायकों की जाति पूछने पर पीडीए की एक जाति बताने पर, कुछ वर्चस्ववादी और प्रभुत्ववादी लोगों ने साथ अभद्र व्यवहार करते हुए उनके बाल कटवाए, नाक रगड़वाई और इलाके की शुद्धि कराई।
हमारा संविधान जातिगत भेदभाव… pic.twitter.com/Pr11ohEp59
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 23, 2025
