New Delhi: A day after a protest by the BJP’s Yuva Morcha (BJYP) outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence turned violent, sources in Delhi Police said Thursday that a student pursuing a diploma course in engineering, a law graduate, an employee of an e-commerce giant and five others — identified as businessmen and students — have been arrested in the case.
A crowd of around 200 protesters, allegedly led by BJYM national president and Lok Sabha MP Tejaswi Surya, had gathered outside the Delhi CM’s house Wednesday, in opposition against Kejriwal’s remarks on The Kashmir Files — a film based on the exodus of Kashmir Pandits from the Valley in the early ’90s, which became the subject of a political controversy after being made tax free in many states.
On 24 March, the Delhi CM had said in assembly, “They (BJP) are demanding that the movie be declared tax-free in Delhi. Upload it on YouTube, the movie will become free and everyone will be able to watch it. Some people are earning crores in the name of Kashmiri Pandits and you (BJP) have been sticking posters of the film.”
The BJYM protestors allegedly broke the boom barrier outside Kejriwal’s residence Wednesday, banged on and painted the main gates red and destroyed the CCTV camera outside the house.
An application of permission Wednesday’s protest had been previously filed by BJP officer bearer Hukum Singh, but was rejected by North district police.
Following the incident, an FIR was registered against “unidentified persons” Wednesday, said the police, under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
“We have arrested eight people so far. All were sent to judicial custody by the court. We identified some others from the footage. Around 20 people have been identified and teams have been sent for raids,” DCP (North), Sagar Singh Kalsi said Thursday.
Sources in Delhi Police said meanwhile that Tejasvi Surya’s role in the alleged vandalism is being probed. “Tejasvi Surya can be clearly seen with the protesters, and present at the spot, in the videos accessed by the police. Legal action has been initiated,” a senior police officer said.
Who are the arrested 8
Forty-year-old Jitender Bisht, 38-year-old Naveen Kumar, 35-year-old Bablu Kumar, 28-year-old Raju Singh, 27-year-old Chandrakant and Pradeep Tiwari, 28-year-old Neeraj Dixit and 21-year-old Sunny Kushwaha are the eight who have been arrested so far for Wednesday’s vandalism outside CM Kejriwal’s house.
Sources in Delhi Police said all eight are Delhi residents and members of the BJYM. ThePrint also reached the families of the eight over phone for more information on them.
According to Chandrakant’s family, the student of a diploma course in engineering, has been affiliated with the BJYM for several years.
“He got a call Tuesday night from one of his friends to protest against CM Kejriwal’s statements. Chandrakant is a ‘mahamantri’ of the youth wing of BJP. He has been to protests earlier as well. He was picked up from our house last night,” said Vikash, Chandrakant’s brother,
Many in law graduate Pradeep Tiwari’s family are associated with the BJP and the RSS, informed Tiwari’s brother, Priyansh.
“Since Pradeep was a child he has been associated with the RSS and also the BJP. First he was at the mandal level, then moved to the zila level. Our father too has been associated with the RSS,” Priyansh said.
He added: “My brother told me that it (Wednesday’s protest) was all organised by the party, and the intention was to surround the CM’s residence. It is our democratic right to protest. All of it was done under the supervision of Tejasvi Surya.”
The accused’s brother displayed little worry about his arrest.
“The time to gather was around 10:00 am. Tejasvi Surya delivered a speech and then the protest march started. There are protests and FIRs all the time. If one has to do politics, he has to go to jail. We will apply for bail soon,” Priyansh added.
Tiwari’s family also said that one of the other eight arrested, Raju, was known to them. “Raju has a business. He is the vice president of BJYM Karol Bagh, Pradeep is the president,” Priyansh said.
Thirty-five-year-old Bablu Kumar’s brother, Pyarelal, admitted Bablu was a member of BJYM, but denied knowledge of the protest.
“He (Bablu) has been associated with BJYM for the last couple of years, but we don’t know anything about this protest,” said Pyarelal.
ThePrint also reached the families of the other four arrested — Jitender Singh, Naveen Kumar, Sunny and Neeraj — over phone, but there was no response till the time of publication of this report.
A second senior officer in Delhi Police told ThePrint Thursday that “Jitender Singh works in a private company, Naveen Kumar has a business, Sunny is both a student and helps his father — a fruit seller, while Neeraj has a private job.”
Hours after Wednesday’s protest Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had claimed, “The attack was a pre-planned conspiracy to kill him (Kejriwal), the country will not tolerate this… They are rattled after the Punjab defeat”.
Meanwhile, Surya has demanded an “unconditional apology” from Kejriwal for his comments and warned that without it, the protests will continue. “We held a protest against the way Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal mocked and made fun of the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits (in Vidhan Sabha),” Surya said, talking about Wednesday’s incident.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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