The two arrested persons were identified as Niyaz Aslam Sheikh (24) and Arif Mohammad Asif Sheikh (23), residents of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Dharavi.

As per the First Information Report (FIR number: 680/2024) registered at the Dharavi police station on July 29, by Vaishya’s brother, Shailendra. In the FIR, he mentioned that he witnessed his younger brother being stabbed by Niyaz (Allu) and Arif with the intention of murder.

According to Shailendra, Arvind was attacked by 6-7 assailants with swords and knives. Arvind was rushed to a nearby hospital and declared brought dead.

Based on the complaint, Niyaz Sheikh and Aarif have been booked under sections 103(2), 351(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, 2023 and two culprits were held by the police accordingly. 

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has claimed that seven attackers were involved in Arvind’s murder but alleges that the police have only filed FIRs against two suspects. In response, Hindu organisations have staged protests in front of the police station on July 29th , demanding comprehensive action against all those involved. But the Jihadi elements in Dharavi started stone pelting on Hindutva demonstrators to disperse them. 

The victim’s family claims that Arvind Vaishya was intentionally targeted due to his prominent role as a strong Hindu voice in the locality. According to the family, Arvind was merely trying to intervene and stop the ongoing fight when he was viciously attacked by the assailants. They allege that the attackers, led by Arif and Saddam, assaulted Arvind with the clear intent to kill him out of a Jihadi motivation. The family believes that Arvind’s outspoken Hindu identity made him a target for this brutal Islamic attack.

But, unfortunate enough that the last rites of Aravind was attacked by the same Jihadi elements once again. On July 30, the last rites of Arvind Vaishya were conducted in Dharavi, drawing a large crowd. During the funeral, mourners chanted slogans such as “Arvind, hum sharminda hain, tere katil zinda hain” and called for a shutdown in Dharavi until justice is served in the case.

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Notably, Islamists attacked the funeral procession of Hindutva worker Arvind Vaishya in Dharavi. The attack occurred despite the presence of Mumbai Police officers at the scene in a state run by a ‘Double engine government’ led by Shiv Sena (Shinde) and BJP. During the attack, stones were hurled at the funeral procession, resulting in injuries to at least one policeman. The violence has raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of the local police force in handling extremist threats.

On Tuesday, about five thousand workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad social organizations joined to protest during Arvind’s last journey. During this, some anti-social elements of Jihadi inclination pelted stones on the crowd involved in the funeral procession. In protest against this, the women involved in the funeral procession caught some stone pelters and handed them over to the police. But when the situation started getting worse due to stone pelting, the police started  lathi-charge. This created chaos in the funeral procession for some time. The local police had made elaborate arrangements considering the seriousness of the matter. Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad allege that seven people were involved in the murder of Arvind Vaishya, but the police registered the names of only two accused in the FIR. After this, the workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad  protested and demanded justice. It’s an irony that RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal workers are now compelled to take streets to demand justice from a Government led by BJP and Shiv Sena. 

Amidst huge police protection, the funeral procession of Arvind started from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar ended to Dharavi Hindu Cremation ground for the last rites of the murdered Hindu activist. 

VHP’s Maharashtra state secretary Mohan Salekar called the police lathicharge on the people attending the funeral unfortunate. Bajrang Dal workers were injured in the lathicharge. Four injured Karan Patel, Rupesh Gali and two others were sent to Sion Hospital for first aid. A huge Shraddhanjali Sabha (obituary-tribute meeting) of Arvind Vaishya has been organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday (August 4th) at Dharavi. On behalf of the Parishad,  Mohan Salekar has appealed to the entire Hindu community to attend this tribute meeting.
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__Inputs from Organiser, Dainik Bhaskar, and Siddhi on X.