A 28-year-old man from Gurugram was assaulted by local residents and later arrested after he allegedly fed chicken momos to a cow and streamed the act online. The incident occurred on December 2 at HUDA Market in Sector 56 and circulated widely after a clip of the moment gained traction on social media.
Police identified the man as Ritik (also spelt Hrithik) Chandna, a resident of New Colony and a former English Honours student at Delhi University. According to Times of India, he began a livestream on the Prism app while eating a plate of chicken momos, confirming with vendors during the stream that the dish indeed contained chicken. When he was unable to finish the full plate, he was seen handing the remaining momos to a cow standing nearby.
A portion of the livestream was later posted from the Instagram handle of Chaman Khatana, who introduced himself as being linked to the Bajrang Dal. Once the video spread, local Hindu groups identified Ritik and traced him to his home.
On Monday, Khatana and a group of associates went to the family’s residence and confronted Ritik and his father. The group demanded that the family apologise, and one clip showed Khatana speaking to the father while threatening further violence against the son if he did not admit wrongdoing.
Ritik was then assaulted, paraded in the neighbourhood and questioned about the incident, including the funding for his online activity. After the confrontation, he was handed over to the police.
A video of Ritik apologising publicly also surfaced. As reported by the Free Press Journal, he stated that he had been “brainwashed” by people online and claimed that he had acted “in the flow” of the moment. A complaint was subsequently lodged accusing him of deliberately hurting religious feelings.
Police said Ritik was arrested and later released on bail. Officers added that the complaint alleged he was motivated by monetary gain and had fed the cow chicken momos at the request of his online audience.
Further details about his background were confirmed by investigators. According to officials, Ritik managed several social-media channels. His father runs a footwear shop on Railway Road and his mother works as a doctor at a private hospital in Old Gurugram. Police also noted that Ritik had been active on YouTube and other platforms over the past few years.
One officer told TOI that neighbours had already warned Ritik about the video before the vigilante group intervened. “Some men in his neighbourhood had seen the clip and urged him to delete it,” the officer said. “When he refused, they alerted a group of self-styled cow vigilantes, who then informed the police.”
Khatana, who filed the complaint, told reporters, “Many people had urged him in the comments to delete the video as it hurt their religious sentiments. His neighbours also told him, but he didn’t listen. We then informed the police.”
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Turan said an FIR had been registered under Section 299 (acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and Section 325 (mischief involving injury to animals) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Turan added, “He confessed to the act and was later granted bail. The complainant has also submitted the video, and an investigation is under way.”
Investigators further said that Ritik claimed he had been paid Rs 3,000 by an unidentified individual to create the video. Police stated they were still verifying this allegation.
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