Madhya Pradesh: Former BJP MLA among 17 arrested for Valentine’s Day attack in name of ‘love jihad’

Madhya Pradesh: Cracking down on miscreants, the Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday arrested 17 people including a former BJP MLA for creating ruckus in restaurants and troubling people present there. The police action came after a group of people attacked a hookah bar and a restaurant while accusing the owners of promoting ‘love jihad’, The Indian Express reported.

Speaking to IE, Bhopal DIG Irshad Wali said that based on a complaint, the police arrested 17 people, including ex-MLA Surendra Nath Singh. The report states that the men, identifying themselves as workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Shiv Sena, went on the rampage on Sunday while holding saffron flags and chanting slogans of Jai Shri Ram.

In the first case, according to the report, a group identifying themselves as workers of the BJP’s youth wing barged into Junkyard Cafe in Bhopal’s Shyamla Hills and went on the rampage. Narendra Kumar, manager of the cafe, has registered a complaint with the police. In his complaint, Kumar said that around 12.20 pm, eight people armed with hockey sticks and bats barged into the cafe and began hurling abuses at the customers and allegedly misbehaved with the staff. Then, the complaint states, they proceeded to break the furniture inside the cafe.

The manager, in his statement, claims that the men accused him and the other cafe workers of promoting love jihad. “You people encourage love jihad. This is just the trailer. If you are seen inside the cafe again, we will kill you,” the men threatened as per Kumar.

In another incident around the same time, a group of about 10 persons, including three women, barged into Cowboy Restro Bar near Bittan market and vandalised the cafe.

In this case, the complaint was filed by Rahul Yadav. In his statement to police, Rahul said that the people who attacked the restaurant identified themselves as workers of the Shiv Sena. He said that he and his workers in the restaurant tried to intervene and during the process, they suffered minor injuries. The men allegedly damaged the furniture inside the restaurant and then left.

According to IE, Bhopal police said that many of the attackers identified themselves as being affiliated with Surendra Nath Singh, the former BJP MLA from Bhopal South West. Singh had earlier led a march, after which he accused hookah bars of turning youths into addicts and calling them “breeding grounds of love jihad”, the report said.