‘Mohammad’ Deepak gets bail after arrest, months after Bajrang Dal row

• Kotdwar gym owner Deepak Kumar was granted bail a day after being arrested following a complaint by businessman Sanjeev Tonk.

• Deepak shot to prominence after confronting Bajrang Dal members who had allegedly pressured a Muslim shopkeeper to remove 'Baba' from his store's name.

• He subsequently faced protests outside his gym, a death threat offering Rs 2 lakh for his killing and a sharp fall in his business; the Supreme Court stayed proceedings in the earlier case in August.

Kotdwar gym owner Deepak Kumar, who became known as 'Mohammad Deepak' after confronting members of the Bajrang Dal over their harassment of a Muslim shopkeeper, was granted bail on Friday, 2 October, a day after being arrested in a fresh case involving a local businessman.

Deepak was produced before the court of the sub-divisional magistrate in Kotdwar around 6.30 pm and released after furnishing three bonds of Rs 50,000 each. He was also served a notice under Section 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), requiring him to maintain peace for six months.

The arrest followed a complaint by businessman Sanjeev Tonk, who alleged that Deepak abused, assaulted and threatened to kill him following a disagreement over a social media post. According to the complaint, Tonk had commented on a post by Deepak concerning the partial demolition of a mosque in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Deepak allegedly subsequently went to Tonk's shop on Thursday morning and threatened him.

The two sides, however, have given sharply different accounts of what happened.

Tonk has alleged that Deepak confronted him without provocation and assaulted him. Associates of Deepak have alleged that Tonk had been harassing him since the January controversy and confronted Deepak before the altercation. Tonk has denied this account. 

Police initially registered a case under Sections 351(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to criminal intimidation and intentional insult. Sections 196 and 115 were subsequently added, police said, after the investigation and examination of CCTV footage. Deepak's arrest, however, was made under Section 170 of the BNSS as a preventive measure over apprehensions of a breach of peace. 

The latest case comes nearly nine months after Deepak became a national talking point following an incident involving a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper in Kotdwar.

On 26 January, a group of men identifying themselves as Bajrang Dal members confronted shopkeeper Vakeel Ahmed over the word 'Baba' in the name of his clothing store. The men objected to a Muslim-owned shop using the word, which they associated with the local Sidhbali temple and Lord Hanuman. Deepak, who happened to be nearby, intervened. When the men asked him his name, he replied: "My name is Mohammad Deepak." A video of the confrontation subsequently went viral. 

What followed put Deepak himself at the centre of a sustained backlash.

On 31 January, Bajrang Dal members gathered outside his gym to protest against him. Deepak subsequently said the incident frightened his customers and devastated his business. His gym, which had around 150 members before the controversy, was reported to have fallen to around 15 regular visitors in its immediate aftermath. 

The pressure escalated further in February, when Uttarakhand Police registered a case after a social media user allegedly offered Rs 2 lakh to anyone who killed Deepak. Police identified the alleged poster as Utkarsh Singh of East Champaran, Bihar, and said they were coordinating with Bihar Police over the case. The authenticity of the video carrying the threat could not independently be verified.

Deepak later said he was struggling to keep the gym running, with rent arrears accumulating. In May, he said he was considering selling the equipment and leaving Kotdwar. He also alleged that BJP and Bajrang Dal workers were approaching his clients' families and discouraging them from sending them to his gym. Those claims were not independently established; police told PTI they had received no complaint regarding such a campaign. 

The January confrontation also resulted in criminal proceedings against Deepak. The Uttarakhand High Court declined to quash the case and had restricted his social-media posts concerning the dispute.

On 31 August, however, the Supreme Court granted him interim relief, staying proceedings arising from the FIR against him and also staying the High Court's restriction on his social-media posts. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice on his challenge. The stay was an interim order and did not amount to a finding on the merits of the allegations against him.

The latest arrest therefore puts Deepak back in the spotlight — this time as the accused in a fresh case — after months in which he had himself faced protests, threats and criminal proceedings following his intervention on behalf of a Muslim shopkeeper.

With PTI inputs