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Caught on camera, Rajasthan BJP leader talks of lynching: ‘My supporters killed …’
MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja issued a warning to anyone involved in cattle smuggling or killing, adding they will face harsh punishment.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja reportedly said at a gathering that his men had so far killed five people in retaliation for the murder of vegetable vendor Chiranjilal Saini, who was battered to death by a mob in Rajasthan's Alwar district.
A clip of Ahuja making the claim is now doing the rounds on social media with one such purported video being shared by Rajasthan Congress head Govind Singh Dotasra on Twitter.
In the footage, the BJP politician is seen sitting surrounded by some men that Dotasra said were ‘local RSS’ leaders deliberating about the killing of Saini.
Ahuja can be seen making the statement while interrupting another person, who was inciting the gathering to join an agitation against the lynching of the vegetable vendor. He says “... this has happened for the first time in this area that they have lynched someone. I have given free hand to workers to kill. We will get them acquitted and secure bail.”
Sharing the video, Dotasra said it has exposed the BJP’s true face."What more proof is needed of the BJP's religious terror and bigotry? The real face of the BJP has been exposed," he said.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Ahuja, the former Ramgarh MLA, issued a warning to anyone involved in cattle smuggling or killing, adding they will face harsh punishment. BJP's Alwar (South) chief Sanjay Singh Naruka said the party "does not have this thinking". "These are his own views," he added
On Sunday, 45-year-old Saini was allegedly lynched by members of the Mev Muslim community on suspicion of stealing a tractor. Seven people have been arrested so far in the case. He had gone to the fields to attend nature's call in Rambas village under Govindgarh town on Sunday morning when he was beaten up by a group of about 20 people. He died while being treated at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur on Monday.
(With inputs from PTI)
