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3 min readMay 25, 2026 02:16 PM IST
Deepak Kumar, who gained attention after defending an elderly Muslim shopkeeper in Uttarakhand, now faces eviction from his gym and mounting financial pressure as he struggles to pay rent and home loan EMIs. (File Photo)
Months after he was threatened by right-wing groups for taking a stand against the harassment of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper, Deepak Kumar, now popularly known as “Mohammad Deepak”, faces the prospect of losing the gym that he has been running.
On January 26, Deepak (38) stood up to a group of men who were harassing a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. The group were demanding that the elderly man drop the word “Baba” from his shop’s name. When Deepak intervened, people from the group asked him his name, to which he replied, “Mohammad Deepak”. A video of the incident went viral, thrusting Deepak into the limelight but also bringing unwanted attention. On January 31, several members of the Bajrang Dal gathered to confront Deepak, but were restrained by the police.
Following the incidents, reports emerged that several people had stopped showing up at Deepak’s gym — with membership falling from 150 to just 15. Subsequently, there was an effort by several people, including those from the legal fraternity, to rally behind “Mohammad Deepak”. Eventually, he said, the membership went up again to nearly 70 people a day.
However, the “economic boycott” stemming from social isolation and communal frenzy had a significant impact, leaving Kumar unable to meet the monthly rent of Rs 40,000 for the space from which he runs the gym. The instalments to be paid for a loan he took to build a house have also been affected.
Deepak told The Indian Express that the owner of the building where his gym is housed has asked him to vacate after he failed to pay rent for four months. “I have not been able to consistently pay the rent. However, things were looking up as almost 70 people had started coming in every day. He implied that he did not want to rent it out to me because I ‘stood up for Muslims’,” Deepak said.
Although a group of lawyers from the Supreme Court had lent him a hand by offering to pay annual membership fees for the gym, Deepak said, “It required more to keep the gym running”.
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“When the membership drive was active, I used the amount for the EMIs and my child’s fees, and I could not pay the rent regularly. Now he has threatened me with eviction,” said Deepak.
In March, Deepak had moved the Uttarakhand High Court, seeking the quashing of the FIR against him. Observing that to cooperate with the investigation, ‘Mohammad’ Deepak should not “indulge in sending messages or videos on social media”, the Uttarakhand High Court disposed of his petition by stating that it was essential for a fair and transparent investigation.
Aiswarya Raj is a Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, covering Uttarakhand. She brings sound journalistic experience to her role, having started her career at the organisation as a sub-editor with the Delhi city team. She subsequently developed her reporting expertise by covering Gurugram and its neighbouring districts before transitioning to her current role as a resident correspondent in Dehradun. She is an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and the University of Kerala. She has reported on the state politics, governance, environment and wildlife, and gender. Aiswarya has undertaken investigations using the Right to Information Act on law enforcement, public policy and procurement rules in Uttarakhand. She has also attempted narrative journalism on socio-economic matters affecting local communities. This specific, sustained focus on critical regional news provides the necessary foundation for high trustworthiness and authoritativeness on topics concerning Uttarakhand. ... Read More
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