In a first, state BJP leaders booked under Epidemic Act

Ranchi: Jharkhand Police on Sunday said it has slapped an FIR against state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash, Kanke MLA Samri Lal and over 70 unnamed others under the Epidemic Act for staging a protest in violation of the lockdown rules on Friday. This is perhaps the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year when members of political parties were booked under the Epidemic Act.
The saffron party termed the move as political vendetta by the Hemant Soren government and said going by the same yardstick, Congress leaders should also be charged under the same provisions for violating the lockdown rules.
Police sources said separate FIRs were also filed at the Kotwali police station against members of the Left parties for lockdown violation when they were protesting against the fuel price hike on the same day.
Criticizing the government’s move, BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said the JMM-Congress-RJD government is rattled by BJP’s successive expose of “wrongdoings” by the ruling parties. Shahdeo also questioned why a similar yardstick is not followed by police (government) and slap cases against Congress, which is part of the ruling alliance in the state, as it had carried out protests in the past.
Talking to reporters, Shahdeo said, “The Hemant Soren government fears our state president because he has been constantly speaking against the wrong policies of the ruling regime. Last year, the government slapped a sedition case against Prakash but was later quashed by the court. Again, he is booked in a false case to intimidate him and our party workers for speaking in favour of the farmers. BJP will not get bogged down by such vendetta politics.”
Notably, Prakash along with BJP’s Kanke MLA Samri Lal and others staged a three-hour protest at Sukurhuttu on Ranchi outskirts against the alleged non-payment of money to scores of farmers for paddy procurement by government and farm loan waivers among other agriculture-related issues. Similar protests were staged across the state.
Kanke police, however, filed a named FIR against Prakash, Lal and others on Saturday for lockdown violation. Partial lockdown is currently in force in Jharkhand in the wake of Covid-19 as part of which any kind of religious and political gathering is banned.
Talking to TOI, Rishi Sinha, the sub-inspector at Kanke police station, said the FIR was filed for violation of Covid appropriate norms. “Two BJP leaders (Deepak and Samri) are named and over 70 are unnamed for staging the protest, not maintaining social distancing and other safety norms,” he said.
Accusing the government of misusing police, Shahdeo said, “Why was no action taken when Congress staged protests against fuel price hikes last week? A Congress delegation even staged a protest outside the Raj Bhavan, where Section 144 of the CrPC is enforced round the year. Why did the police remain a mute spectator? It exposes their double standards.”
Meanwhile, Congress hit back at BJP for misrepresenting facts saying, under the current regime, police are always free to act as per the rule of law unlike during their stint between 2014 and 2019. The party’s co-working president, Rajesh Thakur, said, “Why is BJP nervous about the FIR? Police have the mandate to act whenever rules are broken. BJP workers aren’t above the law. Even, members of the Ranchi Mahanagar Congress unit, too, faced FIRs recently on charges of violation of lockdown during fuel hike protest on the Main Road. We didn’t make any hue and cry.”