Hindu Raksha Dal stages protest, demands scrapping of FIRs against Pinki Chaudhary

The first FIR was registered at Nandgram police station while the second was registered at Shalimar Garden police station

Hundreds of supporters of right-wing outfit Hindu Raksha Dal (HRD) and other saffron outfits staged a protest outside the district collectorate on Tuesday, demanding the scrapping of two FIRs and proceedings under the Goonda Act against outfit president Pinki Chaudhary.

The raksha dal supporters gathered in large numbers at the district headquarters and demanded immediate scrapping of the two recent FIRs lodged against Chaudhary (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The raksha dal supporters gathered in large numbers at the district headquarters and demanded immediate scrapping of the two recent FIRs lodged against Chaudhary -- one, for allegedly misbehaved with an on-duty traffic constable on October 1, and, two, for making derogatory remarks about Hindus a day later.

The first FIR was registered at Nandgram police station while the second was registered at Shalimar Garden police station.

“Our protest lasted for half a day and we left the collectorate by 1pm after handing over our memorandum to officials. We have demanded the scrapping of two FIRs and also an end to proceedings under the Goonda Act against our president,” said a spokesperson from Hindu Raksha Dal.

“If our demands are not met in three days, we will go to Lucknow and stage protests there to press our demands,” the spokesperson said.

In response to the two FIRs and action initiated under the Goonda Act, Chaudhary on October 4 told HT that he was being targeted over “political intentions”.

“On October 1, the traffic police slapped a ₹2,000 fine on a mini-truck driver, who was one of our members, after finding the words “Jai Mata Di” inscribed on his vehicle. They also seized the vehicle. I objected to this but the police booked me as well. Under pressure from our protest, police released the vehicle later,” Chaudhary had said.

“A day later, I only said the Hindu community people do not come together on issues such as cow slaughtering. For that, the police registered a second FIR against me,” he had said.

On the other hand, Nipun Agarwal, deputy commissioner of police (city), said prohibitory orders were already in place and the protesters had taken no permission to stage Tuesday’s demonstration.

“We will look into the issue of violation of prohibitory orders. The protesters submitted their memorandum but the FIRs can only be scrapped by the government. The protesters left after submitting the memorandum and there was no escalation in law and order,” the DCP said.

Bhaskar Verma, assistant commissioner of police, Sahibabad, said the process for levying the Goonda Act against Chaudhary has been initiated.

“He will be heard before the provisions of the Act are slapped on him. The proceedings may take some time but his response will be heard. If the Goonda Act is slapped against him, he will be barred from entering the district for a period of six months,” Verma said.

Chaudhary and his outfit first reached the public eye in 2014, when he along with his associates allegedly led an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party’s office in Kaushambi.

In 2016, he contested the mayoral by-polls of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation as an independent candidate and came fourth.

His outfit again made news in January 2020, when it claimed responsibility for the violence on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi.