Former Congress CPS arrested on charges of sedition

He was arrested for his ‘objectionable remark’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wing of Himachal Pradesh Police on Friday arrested Congress leader and former chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Neeraj Bharti on the charge of sedition for his ‘objectionable remark’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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A police spokesperson said that Bharti was summoned for questioning at Police Station Crime Branch CID Shimla on June 24 and was interrogated for three days till today.

“On Friday, Bharti has been arrested in for investigation,” said the police spokesperson. He will be produced before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court, Shimla on Saturday.

Bharti, in a series of posts on social media website Facebook, had made offensive remarks against the Prime Minister and RSS after the violent face-off between India and China in Galwan valley of Ladakh.

A Shimla-based lawyer Narender Guleria had lodged a complaint against Bharti with the Crime Branch, CID on June 20

The former Jawali legislator was booked under Sections 124A (sedition), 153a (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Bharti’s father and senior Congress leader Chander Kumar termed the arrest of his son as the murder of democracy.

“The state government is treading on the path of the Union government and trying to silence the opposition leaders. The case against Bharti is politically motivated and will not stand in the court of law,” said Kumar, a former Himachal minister and ex-MP.