Ludhiana | Wanted for hurting religious sentiments, Anil Arora arrested

Anil Arora, who was arrested in Panchkula, while trying to check into hotel was sent to a two-day police remand in Ludhiana

After a month and a half of being on the run, Anil Arora, who was wanted by the police for his incendiary remarks that had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community, was arrested in Panchkula on Wednesday night.

The accused, Anil Arora, was brought to the Ludhiana court complex amid sloganeering and protests on Thursday. Heavy police deployment was seen at the complex as Sikh groups had been demanding his arrest for a long time for hurting religious sentiments. (HT Photo)

Several police teams had been looking for Arora. However, it was the team led by inspector Beant Juneja who had arrested the accused, while he was trying to check into a hotel. Arora had run out of funds, and was trying to arrange for food, and a place to stay.

Commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Anil Arora and Vasu Syal of Zira of Ferozepur were main accused in the case. “In the viral audio clip, it is clear that Syal had first made the derogatory statements, followed by Arora.”

Nine people have been arrested in the case so far. However, one of the accused persons, Ashish Thakur, is based in the UK. Bhullar said that the police will initiate proceedings for the extradition of the accused.

The police had announced a ₹1 lakh cash reward for the arrest of Arora, who was the leader of a Hindu outfit, and a former Bharatiya Janata Party worker.

Arora has been booked under Sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code at Division 3 police station on October 20.

The accused was produced in court on Thursday evening and was remanded two days in police custody. He, however, had to face the ire of the people who gathered at the court complex and raised slogans against the accused. One protestor even tried to hurl a shoe at Arora, but the police stopped him. Security was beefed up at the court complex before Arora was brought there.

Different Sikh organisations had staged protests in the city and blocked the roads at Samrala Chowk, Bharat Nagar Chowk and Jagraon Bridge seeking the arrest of the accused.

Case at a glance

October 20: An FIR was lodged against Anil Arora at the Division 3 police station.

October 26: A reward of ₹1 lakh announced for leads on Arora.

October 26: Police arrest Shalu Aggarwal of Panchkula; Rosy Jain, and her husband Amit of Pakhowal Road; Mahesh Chander, his wife Sushma Rani of Janakpuri; and Umesh Kumar of New Guru Nanak Nagar in Mundian Kalan for providing shelter and help Arora avoid arrest.

November 8 : Police arrest Umesh Kumar Gandhi of Mundian Kalan, Arora’s neighbour and distant relative. He had provided shelter and financial help to Arora after he was booked. Police also recovered ₹10 lakh from the house of Arora’s sister.

November 13: Police arrest Vasu Syal of Ferozepur, a close aide of Anil Arora.

November 15: Sanjiv Sharma of Jalandhar, a close aide of Vasu Syal arrested. Sharma had given ₹20,000 to Vasu and had also helped him evade arrest.