Bhagalpur clash: Ashwini Choubey refutes charges on son

Days after an FIR was lodged against his son for inciting violence in Bihar's Bhagalpur, Union Minister Ashwini Choubey on Sunday rejected the charge, saying his son did not do anything wrong.

"I am proud that he is my son. I am proud that my son did not do anything wrong, he was raising slogans in tribute of Bharat Mata, the people from Bharatiya Navvarsh Jagran Samiti and Bhagalpur took out a procession for Hindu New Year. No one was hurt during the procession," Choubey told ANI.

Contrary to reports, Choubey said that there were no incidents of violence during the course of the procession, and pointed finger at the Congress party.

"The procession passed peacefully and one and a half hour later, some notorious elements from Congress resorted to hooliganism and fired shots at the policemen, and also set ablaze motorcycles of the passersby. Why are the police not taking any action against them?" he said.

A communal clash broke out in Bhagalpur, on March 17, during a procession that was carried out by workers from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), RSS and Bajrang Dal, and was led by Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat.

An FIR was also registered against Shashwat for allegedly inciting communal clash.

However, Shashwat said that the FIR was not filed for inciting the violence but under Loudspeakers Act.

"It's nowhere written in the FIR that I incited riots. It is written that I am being booked under Loudspeakers Act and that I didn't have permissions for the procession. Also, that people's sentiments might be hurt because we were raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Vande Matram," he had told ANI.

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