4 held for shouting slogans outside activist’s house, released on bail

Four men, including a journalist who runs a news web portal, were arrested on Saturday morning, for allegedly shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans outside the house of

Four men, including a journalist who runs a news web portal, were arrested on Saturday morning, for allegedly shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans outside the house of RTI activist Saket Gokhale on Friday evening. The Thane court released them on a personal bond.

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Saket Gokhale had on Thursday tweeted about the alleged handling of the social media campaigns of the chief electoral office of Maharashtra by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. He had also filed a petition in the Allahabad high court to halt the bhoomi pujan for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, on the grounds that it was in violation of the Centre’s protocol. The court dismissed his petition on Friday. Gokhale on Friday alleged that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members shouted slogans outside his house in Kashimira, Mira Road, and threatened his family members. He also alleged that RSS members were giving him death threats over the phone. The state government then provided protection to the activist and announced a probe into the incident.

The accused arrested – Ranveer Jaiprakash Vajpaye, 33, Mira Road resident; Vishal Jagannath Patil, 35; Bhayander resident, Harshal Raghunath Davane, 28, Kashigaon resident; and Kashimira resident Roshan Baliram Ghare, 28 – were booked under sections 143 (a) (unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience), 269, 270 (spread of infection) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Sanjay Hazare, senior inspector of Kashimira police station, said: “We are in search of six others. The accused were arrested on the basis of the CCTV footage from Gokhale’s building.”