UP: Muslim Zomato Delivery Man Allegedly Held Captive, Tortured For 1.5 Hours (image-X/zomato)

A Zomato delivery boy was allegedly held captive and physically assaulted and tortured by four men over his Muslim identity in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Tuesday. An FIR has been filed against the accused, and an investigation has been launched.

The victim reportedly went to deliver an order on August 20 at Vineet Khand in Gomti Nagar when he was allegedly taken captive for nearly one and a half hours. During this, the man claimed that he had been physically tortured by the men who attacked him with a helmet. As per the FIR, the attackers also threw a glass of alcohol at him and threatened to shoot him after learning that he was Muslim.

Read Also: Zomato Shuts Down ‘Zomato Legends’ Service

He alleged that they verbally abused him and wanted to throw hot water on him. Further, the delivery boy was forced to write an application and threatened him to remain silent.

Zomato is yet to respond to the situation.

In 2019, a customer with the username Namo Sarkar cancelled his order on Zomato after a “non-Hindu” was assigned as his delivery boy. Several activists had come out in support of the man and stated that intolerance towards minorities has “emboldened” in recent years.

Read Also: “Not Acceptable”: Muslim Body On Waqf Amendment Bill

In March, five foreign students were injured and two hospitalised after outsiders entered the Gujarat University campus and attacked them while they were offering namaz in the hostel.

According to a report by the Washington-based research group, India Hate Lab (IHL), there was a staggering 62 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate speech events in the second half of 2023, higher than the first half of the year.