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Hindu Army chief held over communal slogans at protest in Delhi
Shortly after the incident in the national capital, when the police began cracking down on those who allegedly shouted hate remarks, Tiwari fled the city, a senior police officer said, asking not to be named.
The Delhi Police have arrested Hindu Army chief Sushil Tiwari for allegedly raising anti-Muslim slogans during a protest at Jantar Mantar on August 8, people aware of the matter said on Saturday.
Shortly after the incident in the national capital, when the police began cracking down on those who allegedly shouted hate remarks, Tiwari fled the city, a senior police officer said, asking not to be named. He was tracked down in Lucknow on Friday night and arrested, the officer said.
Tiwari is a resident of Lucknow and came to Delhi with a group of at least five men to participate in the protest at Jantar Mantar, the officer said. The police said they have formed various teams to track the other men.
Videos of anti-Muslim sloganeering during a protest at Jantar Mantar were widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case in connection with the matter on Monday. Hundreds of people attended the protest organised by the “Bharat Jodo Aandolan” at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. Tiwari was seen shouting slogans in one of these videos, the police said.
On being questioned after he was tracked down, Tiwari told the police he joined the protest after reading a message on a WhatsApp group. Tiwari works as a travel agent and often comes to Delhi for work, said the police.
Six people, including advocate and former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, were previously arrested in the case. Upadhyay was granted bail on August 12. “Seven arrests in the case have been made and we are further investigating the matter,” said the police officer.
HT tried to contact Upadhyay and the Hindu Army for comments on Saturday but their phones were switched off.
The earlier arrests were made after an FIR was registered by a policeman posted at Jantar Mantar, at the Connaught Place police station. It pertained to provocative sloganeering at the programme. Besides Upadhyay, Preet Singh, Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar, Vinod Sharma and Vinit Bajpai have been arrested, police said, adding that Tiwari is the seventh to be arrested in the case.
Preet Singh is the director of ‘Save India Foundation’ while Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar and Vinod Sharma are associated with different right-wing organisations.
“They had previously decided to hold this protest in April, but due to the second wave of Covid-19, the plan was postponed till August and towards the end of July, a date for this protest was decided,” another official said on condition of anonymity.
