Upadhyay linked to at least 1 other accused, say cops
New Delhi: After Bharatiya Janata Party's Ashwini Upadhyay insisted in court that he had nothing to do with the others arrested in relation to the hate speech against Muslims at Jantar Mantar one week ago, the Delhi Police have said that they have found Upadhyay's link with at least one of the other accused arrested.
According to police, on August 10, six people including Upadhyay were arrested in connection with the inflammatory, anti-Muslim slogans that were allegedly raised at Jantar Mantar on August 8 during Bharat Jodo' rally.
A senior officer told Millennium Post, during the investigation, they have found that one Preet Singh, who was arrested in the case, was known to Upadhyay.
"Upadhyay had sent us a letter asking permission for the event. Singh was mentioned, in the letter, as one of the main organisers of the rally," the official said, adding that permission had been denied, despite which the event was held.
The investigation also revealed that Singh had invited another accused Deepak Kumar Hindu to the event. "We have also found that arrested accused were connected," the official said. Police have also arrested Vinod Sharma, head of Sudarshan Vahini; Deepak Kumar, and Vineet Bajpai Kranti.
Upadhyay had also filed a police complaint in which he claimed some "unknown persons" had infiltrated his event to "hijack" it and that he was being targetted.
A Delhi court last week granted bail to the SC advocate after noting that there was nothing on record to show that the hate speech at Jantar Mantar was in the presence of or at the behest of Upadhyay.
In Upadhyay's bail order, MM Udbhav Kumar Jain noted that as far as the offence under IPC section 153A was concerned (promoting enmity between persons on grounds of religion, caste etc.), there is nothing on record "except for mere assertion".
"Even during the hearing, this Court has inquired from Ld. APP and so far, there is nothing against the accused in the alleged video," the court said.
Meanwhile, three accused, namely Preet Singh, Deepak Singh and Vinod Sharma were denied bail.
Metropolitan Magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain has observed that in one of the videos, the accused can be seen making "scathing remarks" which are "undemocratic" and "uncalled for" from a citizen of this country where principles like secularism hold the value of basic feature imbibed in the Constitution.
The Delhi Police had registered an FIR for promoting enmity between different groups (IPC 153A) against unknown persons and for violating DDMA's Covid guidelines.
In the several purported videos of the event that have sparked outrage on social media, a mob can be seen chanting slogans like, "Jab Mulle Kaate Jaenge, Ram Ram Chillaenge…," and "Hindustan Me Rehna Hoga, Jai Shree Ram Kehna Hoga…"
