Nagpur, Mar 22 (PTI) A leader of the Minority Democratic Party (MDP) and six others were arrested on Saturday in connection with the violence in the city earlier this week, taking the number of arrested persons to 112, a police official said.
Hamid Engineer, executive president of MDP, and Mohammad Shahzad Khan were booked for sedition, he said.
Cyber Police had found that the duo were allegedly involved in spreading misinformation on social media about the protest staged by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on March 17 seeking removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. Police have already arrested MDP chief Fahim Khan for alleged sedition, terming him as a key accused.
Engineer had allegedly asked for donations before the riots, the official said.
Large-scale stone pelting and arson were reported in several parts of Nagpur on March 17 over rumours that a `chadar’ with holy inscriptions was burnt during the VHP protest. Authorities subsequently claimed that the rumours were baseless, and were spread mischievously.
Thirty-three police personnel, including three Deputy Commissioner of Police-rank officers, were injured in the violence.
Meanwhile, Irfan Ansari (40), who had suffered injuries in the violence, died in hospital on Saturday, police said.
A welder by profession, he had left home around 11 pm on Monday to catch a train to Itarsi. As per his family, they could not find out how exactly he was injured while heading for the railway station. PTI COR CLS BNM ARU KRK
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