The police on Wednesday released a CCTV grab of the suspect who had allegedly assaulted a 25-year-old Muslim man in Sadar Bazar last week, a day after police commissioner Muhammad Akil said the incident did not appear to be communal but a handiwork of a lone criminal.

The police said that the suspect was yet to be identified and the motive behind the altercation, which was captured in the CCTV cameras in the area, is yet to be cleared up.

The police have appealed to the public to share information about the suspect and said the identity of the informer would be kept a secret.

A special investigation team (SIT) probing the matter said that after scanning the footage from over 500 CCTV cameras in the area, they found one clear video in which the suspect can be seen exiting a lane on foot.

The investigators said that the suspect is seen tapping the victim, Mohammad Barkat Alam, on the head and then hitting his hand with a stick after Alam pushed him. The police said there was, however, no evidence to suggest that the suspect forced Alam to chant Hindu slogans as the footage does not have audio.

Sumer Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), west, said, “One suspect, who had allegedly assaulted the man, can be seen walking through the lanes after the incident. In several CCTV cameras over a radius of two to three kilometres, he is seen walking alone. We have obtained leads and will soon arrest the suspect.”

On Tuesday, Akil had said that there were gaps in the statements made by Alam to the police and media and there seemed to have been “no deliberate attempt to disturb communal harmony”. He said that instead it was a “law and order” situation and Alam might have been “tutored by certain people for their vested interests”.

Akil reiterated on Wednesday that the probe had suggested that the incident was an individual criminal act and the suspect is not associated with any group. “If it is found that the victim was tutored by certain people to make the allegations, we will initiate a probe against them, but it will take time,” said Akil.

In his complaint to the police, Alam had said that he was accosted by a group of six people — four on a motorcycle and two on foot — when he was returning from the Jama Masjid mosque on Saturday night. He said that two pedestrians were drunk and abused him.

“One of them told me that I was not allowed to wear a skull cap in the area. They assaulted me and abused me. The four men on the motorcycle did not abuse me,” he stated in the FIR. Later, Alam had told media persons that he was asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and threatened to be force-fed pork when he resisted.

On Wednesday, Alam said, “I stand by my statement. The claims that I was coached are incorrect. I had narrated everything to the police. I was called to see the CCTV footage and have identified one suspect who assaulted me.”

First Published: May 30, 2019 00:54 IST