Four tourists, including a woman, were allegedly assaulted at Sinhagad Fort near Pune by members of a Hindutva group who objected to them wearing shorts and sleeveless clothes, The Indian Express quoted the Pune Rural Police as saying on Tuesday.

Members of the Samast Hindu Bandhav Army allegedly assaulted visitors from four separate groups between 2 pm and 5 pm on Sunday.

The police have registered a case against eight members of the outfit, including three women, on charges including voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly, rioting and criminal intimidation, The Indian Express reported.

The first information report was filed by a 39-year-old senior manager from Dhayari, who visited the fort with his family and friends, the newspaper reported.

According to the complainant, the group was returning after visiting the memorial of Tanaji Malusare, a military commander of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, when they were confronted over their clothing.

The complainant alleged that the group asked why they were wearing shorts and told them to leave the fort. Three men from the group allegedly slapped him, while a woman dragged his wife.

He alleged that they kept shouting: “Don’t you understand Hindu culture?”

After leaving the fort, the complainant informed police and was sent to Haveli police station, where he learned that tourists from three other groups had also reported being assaulted.

The eight people named by police are Sanket Sanjay Patil, Ashish Dilip Apar, Revan Narayan Kokte, Sayali Sujit Chavan, Ketaki Suraj Jadhav, Amar Ramchandra Shirke, Kunal Kisan Nalawade and Arya Praveen Kawade.

“We have launched a search to apprehend the eight accused,” Inspector Rajesh Ramaghare told The Times of India.

In July, a poster at the entrance to Sinhagad Fort stating that the fort belonged to Hindus and that Muslims were not allowed was removed by the forest department, The Indian Express reported.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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