Ten members of the Hindutva group, Hindu Raksha Dal, have been arrested for distributing swords and raising anti-Muslim slogans in the Shalimar Garden area of Ghaziabad on Monday.
According to the police, a first information report (FIR) has been registered against 16 identified persons and 25 to 30 unidentified individuals in connection with the incident.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Shalimar Garden, Atul Kumar Singh said the arrests were made after videos circulated on social media showing members of the group displaying and handing out swords during a rally in the colony.
Bhupendra Chaudhary, also known as Pinki, the national president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, has been named in the FIR but remains absconding, Singh said.
In one of the videos, Chaudhary is purportedly heard invoking recent political developments in Bangladesh and urging Hindus to arm themselves.
“The way our Hindu brothers have been killed in Bangladesh… Hindus should keep swords to defend themselves,” he said in a video taking rounds on social media sites.
He also claimed that the Hindu Raksha Dal would “respond to every single “jihadist” in his own language.”
Chaudhary was referring to the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a factory worker who was beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district on December 18 after being accused of blasphemy.
The FIR states that members of the group marched through the area with weapons and raised anti-Muslim slogans, allegedly creating fear and disturbing public order.
The case has been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to rioting, rioting with deadly weapons, and wrongful confinement, along with provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patil said that more charges could be added as the investigation progresses and that efforts are underway to identify and arrest the remaining accused.
“Police will not permit any outfit to disturb communal harmony and law and order,” Patil said.
The post Hindutva men arrested in Ghaziabad for distributing swords, FIR names 41 appeared first on Maktoob media.
