Jantar Mantar hate sloganeering case: Pinky Chaudhary sent to 14-day judicial custody

The Delhi court observed that despite the nation celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’, the minds of certain individuals’ are "still chained with intolerant and self-centered beliefs".

The Hindu Raksha Dal chief Pinky Chaudhary was on Thursday remanded to judicial custody by a Delhi Court till September 17 for his alleged involvement in chanting communal slogans at a rally in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on August 8, news agency ANI reported. Chaudhary, whose real name is Bhupinder Tomar, will be presented in court on September 16.

Delhi Police personnel with Hindu Raksha Dal leader Pinki Chaudhary, arrested in connection with communal sloganeering at Jantar Mantar during a protest, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

The Delhi court observed that despite the nation celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’, the minds of certain individuals’ are "still chained with intolerant and self-centered beliefs".

A video apparently made by Chaudhary surfaced on social media on Monday in which the 40-year-old said that neither he nor his organisation "did anything wrong" in Jantar Mantar on August 8. He declared in the video that he would get "himself arrested" on Tuesday. He also said that he will cooperate with the police during the probe. HT could not verify the authenticity of the video.

Chaudhary surrendered to the police at Mandir Marg police station in Delhi on Tuesday and was brought to the police station by his supporters on their shoulders amid chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Pinky Bhaiyya Zindabad’. Chaudhary denied allegations made against him earlier.

Earlier, some of the videos on social media showed him and other protesters allegedly shouting communal slogans on August 8. Chaudhary claimed that they were protesting seeking the removal of ‘colonial-era laws’. The court earlier denied him anticipatory bail due to the ‘nature of the allegations’.

Along with Chaudhary, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay was also part of the ‘Bharat Jodo Andolan’ rally. Upadhyay was granted bail last week for his alleged involvement. Preet Singh, Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar, Vinod Sharma, Vinit Bajpai and Sushil Tiwari were among the others arrested along with these two for allegedly chanting communal slogans and defying Covid-19 protocols. Preet Singh was also denied bail last week.