The Rajput Karni Sena, the outfit that has led the calls for a ban on the movie Padmaavat, on Saturday denied its role in the violent protests against the film in seven states, NDTV reported.
“Some of the incidents that happened are sad,” Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi (pictured above) said at a press conference in New Delhi. “None of the protestors, who set the cinema halls and 40 to 50 motorcycles on fire in Ahmedabad knew who I was. Neither do I know them. What does it indicate? But TV reports said Rajputs and Karni Sena volunteers did it.”
Kalvi claimed he had evidence to prove that none of the outfit’s volunteers were behind the attacks.
He made the statement the same day the Gurugram Police set up a Special Investigation Team to look into the attack on a school bus in the city on January 24, DNA reported. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ashok Bakshi will supervise the investigation.
The police also took into preventive custody Thakur Kushalpal, the outfit’s leader in Gurugram, The Indian Express reported.
“During the course of the investigation, we arrested 24 miscreants who were involved in the violent incidents that occurred in different places,” Gurugram Police Public Relations Officer Ravinder said. “All accused have been sent to judicial custody. Besides, 14 persons were detained under sections 107 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code as a preventive measure. Strenuous efforts are being made to identify the remaining hooligans who were involved in vandalism.”
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