Mohammad Deepak used money collected during membership drive pushed by Rahul Gandhi and leftists to meet his personal expenses instead of running gym, now faces eviction due to non-payment of rent

In late January 2026, Deepak Kumar, aka Mohammad Deepak, a gym-trainer running Hulk Gym in Uttarakhand’s Kotdwara, gained national attention over a communal dispute. Days after the incident, Deepak Kumar claimed that there was a sharp decline in his gym’s membership, dropping from 150 to 15.  Deepak’s ordeal triggered an Islamo-leftist sympathy wave, and many politicians and celebrities promised to buy his gym membership. Three months on, Mohammad Deepak is on the brink of losing his gym. Mohammad Deepak gave an interview to The Indian Express recently, in which the gym trainer played the victim card and claimed that, due to a supposed ‘economic boycott’ and ‘social isolation’ after the January incident, he has been unable to pay the Rs 40,000 rent for his gym. Deepak Kumar said the owner of the building that houses his gym has given him an ultimatum to vacate the space after he failed to pay rent for four months. Mohammad Deepak Kumar paints his landlord a communal figure for threatening eviction over non-payment of four months’ gym rent Deepak Kumar also villainised his landlord and gave a communal spin to the Hindu landlord’s natural reaction to a tenant failing to pay rent for four months straight. Kumar claimed that the landlord does not want to rent the gym to him because he helped a Muslim man. “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’,” Mohammad Deepak told Indian Express. A question arises here: if the landlord was so bigoted and anti-Muslim that he does not want to rent out his space to Mohammad Deepak for his gym, why would he allow him to continue gym operations for nearly four months without rent payment? Isn’t a 1-month notice a standard practice? Would he really wait for four months to warn of eviction over non-payment of rent? It is also quite natural for common people to avoid having anything to do with anyone embroiled in police-court cases, and yet the landlord apparently waited for Deepak to work things out and pay the rent. And yet, Mohammad Deepak Kumar comes out in the media to play victim and villainise his landlord as a bigoted Hindu. Deepak used money collected during the membership drive for personal expenses instead of running the gym, and now cries victim When asked about the money collected during the membership drive after the controversy, Mohammad Deepak Kumar admitted that he used the incoming funds for personal expenses, including payment of home loan EMIs and his child’s school fees, etc, rather than investing it in gym operations and paying rent. It must be recalled that on 26th January 2026, members of Bajrang Dal asked the owner of Ahmed’s Baba School Dress and Matching Centre to change the name of his shop. The shopkeeper reportedly refused, which led to an argument. Deepak Kumar intervened and sided with the Muslim shop owner. When his name was asked, he said, “Mohammad Deepak”. The video of the incident went viral online, with Islamo-leftists heaping praises on Deepak for declaring his name as ‘Mohammad Deepak’ to somehow help the Muslim shop-owner. Politicians, entertainers, and a group of Supreme Court lawyers pledged support to Mohammad Deepak, with many promising to buy his gym’s membership. Among the top names were Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, entertainer Swara Bhasker, and author and Islamist sympathiser Harsh Mander. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi published a social media post on 1st February, declaring Mohammad Deepak a ‘hero’. “Deepak from Uttarakhand is a hero of India. Deepak is fighting for the Constitution and humanity—for that Constitution which the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are conspiring every day to trample underfoot. He is a living symbol of a shop of love in the marketplace of hate, and that’s what stings those in power the most. The Sangh Parivar is deliberately poisoning the country’s economy and society, so that India remains divided and a few people continue to rule on the crutches of fear,” Gandhi wrote. “Uttarakhand’s BJP government is openly siding with those anti-social forces that are engaged in intimidating and harassing ordinary citizens. No country can move forward in an atmosphere of hate, fear, and anarchy. Without peace, development is just an empty slogan. We need more Deepaks—those who do not bow, who do not fear, and who stand firmly with the Constitution with all their might. We are with you, brother. Don’t be afraid. You are a lion-hearted warrior,” he added. Days later, Mohammad Deepak Kumar met Rahul Gandhi at the latter’s residence. Gandhi shared a video of the meeting and wrote, “In the hearts of millions of Indians lies the ideology of harmony and love, but there is also fear in their minds—Deepak has shown the path to all of them with his courage. Those who try to intimidate society by spreading hatred are, in reality, cowards—never be afraid of them. Deepak has defended our tricolor and our Constitution. He stood firm against hatred, protected the weak— There is no greater patriotism than this.” Mohammad Deepak had confirmed that during the meeting, Rahul Gandhi promised to visit his gym in Kotdwara and take a membership. However, Gandhi never showed up. Rahul Gandhi Ji has spoken to my family and consoled my wife also. He has said that I haven’t done anything wrong.Rahul Gandhi Ji has also said that he will come to Kotdwar and take a membership at my gym.– Mohammad Deepak pic.twitter.com/7sVLrGUQqe— MP Mahendiran (@MPMahendran_INC) February 23, 2026 Uttarakhand Congress leadership, including former CM Harish Rawat, who promised to open a Muslim University if elected to power, had also lauded Mohammad Deepak Kumar as a beacon of justice. Bollywood ‘entertainer’ Swara Bhasker and also committed to purchasing the membership of Deepak’s gym, as she wrote, “This is an excellent idea! Let’s all – whoever of us can- take membership of Mohd. Deepak’s gym.. I’m in! Brilliant idea Adheesh ji.. who can help with details?” There, however, is no public confirmation that Bhasker actually fulfilled her self-declared commitment. In February, Harsh Mander, author and Islamist-sympathising activist, also promised to buy the membership of Deepak’s gym. “Let as many of us as possible take membership of Deepak’s Gym as an act of solidarity Could someone please share details of how we can pay our membership fees for this? Thanks,” Mander posted on X. Apparently, only CPIM MP John Brittas actually visited Deepak’s gym and purchased a membership. In addition, a group of 15 senior Supreme Court advocates bought an annual membership to Deepak’s gym for Rs 10,000 each. Mohammad Deepak confirmed that he did receive support from Supreme Court lawyers; however, he said that the money collected during the membership drive was not enough to run the gym. Notably, Deepak said that after the membership drive, the number of gym members, which went down from 150 before the controversy to just 15 after that, went up to 70. In fact, Deepak said that he used all the money collected during the membership drive in February this year to pay the EMIs and his child’s fees. “It required more to keep the gym running. 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,” Deepak said. Deepak Kumar’s admission, though aimed at garnering sympathy and fiscal support, raises questions over his integrity. The whole idea of buying gym membership was to ‘help’ Deepak run the gym smoothly amidst dwindling numbers of pre-existing members due to the controversy. But, instead of utilising the collected funds for the gym’s operation and paying the rent, Deepak spent it all on regular pre-controversy expenses. It is interesting how most left-liberals who hailed Mohammad Deepak Kumar a hero, a beacon of hope in Modi’s ‘communal’ India, were mostly only confined to rhetorical support and little ground action. What is even more amusing is that the Muslim community, for whom Deepak Kumar stood up and even went to the extent of calling himself Mohammad Deepak, did not come out in his support, as evident from his membership number reaching just around 70 after all the controversy, politics, and social media support wave. Mohammad Deepak Kumar and his controversial past OpIndia’s investigation earlier revealed Mohammad Deepak Kumar’s links to a Dubai-based businessman, Chand Maula Baksh, who regularly organised bodybuilding events for him. During the controversy, a video of Mohammad Deepak went viral on social media in which he was heard saying that there is immense power in the name “Mohammad”. In a comment on the same post, he said, “If the terrorists took off the pants of Hindu men before killing them, then what did they take off the women?” Another viral post by Mohammad Deepak calls those who describe the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack as Muslims “chutiy@”.  Mohammad Deepak is said to be closely associated with Youth Congress District President Vijay Rawat.