An FIR was filed against Arijit Shashwat and eight others at Nathnagar police station of Bhagalpur in connection with the clashes that broke out between members of two communities on March 17.
Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s son Arijit Shashwat was arrested and sent to a 14-day judicial custody in connection with a case relating to communal violence in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district on Sunday. The arrest came hours after a Bhagalpur court rejected the anticipatory bail petition of Shashwat against whom an arrest warrant was issued on March 24.
“We had information that Shashwat was at the famous Hanuman temple in the vicinity of Patna junction. A police team reached the spot and arrested him and he has been sent to Bhagalpur”, Manu Maharaj, Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna, said.
However, Shashwat said he had surrendered instead as he felt he was wrongly accused of evading arrest. “I was not absconding as I have not committed any crime. If raising slogans like ‘Bharat Mata’ and ‘Sri Ram’ is a crime, then I may be called a criminal,” he said.
An FIR was filed against Shashwat and eight others at Nathnagar police station of Bhagalpur in connection with the clashes that broke out between members of two communities on March 17. Heavy stone-pelting and even exchange of fire were witnessed during the violence in which several persons, including two policemen, were injured.
The clashes followed a skirmish between residents of Nathnagar and those participating in a Ram Navami procession which was led by Shashwat. Locals had objected to playing of loud music during the procession.
Choubey, meanwhile, accused the RJD and Congress of trying to flare up “riots” in Bihar, and said the NDA governments at the Centre and in the state would take stern action against such attempts.
(With PTI inputs)