Day after attack on Delhi CM’s house, 8 from BJP’s youth wing arrested

DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said the men — Chandrakant (27), Pradeep Tiwari (27), Raju Singh (28), Jitender Bisht (40), Naveen Kumar (38), Bablu Kumar (35), Neeraj Dixit (25) and Sunny (21) — were identified based on CCTV footage and technical evidence recovered from the spot.

Families of the accused said they were unaware of the arrests until last night, when police came and took the men.

Vikas, Chandrakant’s elder brother, said the 27-year-old is pursuing a diploma in civil engineering and has been a member of the BJYM for years. “We have never faced any issues before. He got a call a day before the protest from his friends. He is a ‘mahamantri’ of the youth wing and they called him to protest against the CM. Police took him to the station in the afternoon where he gave his details. We didn’t know they would barge in late at night and pick up my brother. He was simply protesting…,” he said.

Pradeep’s family said he works as a ‘mahamantri’ and has been associated with the party for years. All family members are associated with the BJP as workers. Ram Badal, his father, said, “Pradeep completed his bachelors in LLB. We don’t know much about his work. I was out yesterday when the protest happened. I later found out he had been arrested…”

The family also said they know Raju who works as a businessman. They claimed that the men had permission from the police to protest.

Bablu’s family said he works at a private firm in Delhi and went with his friends for a protest. Pyarelal, his brother, said, “We don’t know much about his work. He was associated with the BJYM but we didn’t know he was going for the protest.”

As reported by The Indian Express, an application for the protest, filed by a BJP office bearer, was rejected by the arrangements cell of North district police, yet the group went ahead with it.

DCP Singh Kalsi said: “We have arrested eight persons so far. All were sent to judicial custody by the court. We identified some from the footage. Around 20 persons have been identified and teams have been sent for raids.” A senior police officer said that all the accused are residents of Delhi and members of BJYM.

Video footage from the spot showed Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya, along with BJYM workers, protesting outside the CM’s residence. Asked about Surya’s involvement, the senior police officer said, “We have footage where he is seen with protesters who later indulge in vandalism.”

Nearly 200 members of the BJYM, the BJP’s youth wing, had staged a protest outside Kejriwal’s house on Wednesday against his remarks on the ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie. The men broke the boom barrier, kicked and banged the main gate before painting it red. They also allegedly broke a CCTV camera outside the residence.

Police had said a case was registered under IPC sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.