Man held for posing as cop, threatening Hashmi

The accused, identified as Harinder Mallik, was arrested from his house in Ghaziabad. DCP (southeast) Romil Baaniya said Mallik used to make calls to random numbers after consuming alcohol in the hope of talking to women

By: Express News Service
New Delhi | July 20, 2017 05:25 AM IST

2 min read

Social Activist Shabnam Hashmi (PTI Photo)

Four days after social activist Shabnam Hashmi was allegedly threatened by a caller posing as a sub-inspector, police arrested a 41-year-old mechanic from Ghaziabad on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Harinder Mallik, was arrested from his house in Ghaziabad. DCP (southeast) Romil Baaniya said Mallik used to make calls to random numbers after consuming alcohol in the hope of talking to women. “He is unmarried and had a tendency to call random numbers. If the call was received by a woman, he would talk in an ‘obscene or vulgar’ way with them. If the woman threatened him with police action, he would say that he is posted in the police force,” Baaniya said.

On July 15, social activist Shabnam Hashmi had written to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik alleging a threat to her life by a person who who identified himself as sub-inspector Sandeep Malik from Lajpat Nagar police station. According to Hashmi, the accused told her: “Ek abhiyan chal raha hai — ghero aur maaro (a campaign is being run — surround and kill)” and that she could be killed for not having an Aadhaar card.