Baghpat, Jul 21 (IANS): Three men have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat for thrashing a 44-year-old cleric and allegedly asking him to chant 'religious slogans'.

The victim is the son of Shahar Qazi. Police said on Friday that the incident took place earlier this week when Hafiz Musibur-Rehman, son of Habibur-Rehman, 65, was returning home after offering 'namaz' at a mosque.

Three men on a motorcycle intercepted him and misbehaved with him.

Hafiz told reporters, "I had not seen them earlier and it seems they targeted me due to my appearance. I was wearing a kurta pyjama and a skull cap. They stopped me, pulled my beard, wrapped a saffron scarf around my neck and forced me to chant slogans."

He further said, "One of them filmed the entire act on his mobile phone. They threatened to kill me if I reported the matter to the police. I was scared, ran home, and did not tell anyone. My family sensed something wrong and I had to eventually tell them what had happened."

The family reported the matter to police and a case was lodged.

ASP (Baghpat) Manish Kumar Mishra, said, "An FIR under IPC sections 153-B (imputations, assertions, prejudicial to national-integration), 342 (wrongful confinement), 505 and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered against unidentified persons."

He said, "Later, the accused, identified as Rahul Chauhan, Jitendra Sharma and Neeraj Kumar were arrested and sent to jail. They are residents of Muhalla Deshraj in Baghpat. During interrogation, they told police they were inebriated at the time of the incident. Further investigation is on."