The Rajasthan Police on Sunday said that a team of officials are in Noida to arrest News18 India television anchor Aman Chopra in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and hurting religious sentiments during a show, The Indian Express reported.
The police said that their team had gone to Chopra’s home on Saturday but could not find him there. Officers had also visited the anchor’s office in Noida on May 1, according to Newslaundry.
“Our team is camping in Noida and searching all possible locations to trace him [Chopra],” Superintendent of Police Sudhir Joshi told PTI. “Yesterday also our team went to Chopra’s house but he was not found there and his residence was locked.”
In April, three first information reports were registered against Chopra after he hosted a show on the demolition of a temple in Alwar district’s Rajgarh. The FIRs were registered at Bichwada in Dungarpur, Bundi and in Alwar.
During the show on April 22, Chopra had given “false and fictitious details” by showing that the demolition of the temple was done by the Rajasthan government as an act of revenge for the demolition drive carried by the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation in the national capital’s Jahangirpuri area, Station House Officer of Dungarpur Kotwali police station, Dilpdan Charan, said.
The temple had been razed on April 17, while the Jahangirpuri demolition exercise was conducted on April 20.
The police said that Chopra was booked under Sections 124-A (sedition), 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Informational Technology Act.
On Saturday, Chopra was granted interim protection from arrest by the Rajasthan High Court in two of the three FIRs, the Hindustan Times reported. The court did not stay his arrest in the FIR filed in Dungarpur district.
Joshi said that since the court order did not mention the FIR registered in Dungarpur, the Rajasthan Police will continue efforts to arrest Chopra.
He also alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Police did not cooperate with their counterparts in Rajasthan, The Indian Express reported.
“This was the second time that our team went to arrest Chopra,” he said. “Much like the previous instance, a sub-inspector of the UP Police took our team to a police station and made the team wait on the pretext of details of the case. Our Additional SP had already briefed them on the case against Chopra.”
Bisrakh (Noida) Station House Officer Umesh Bahadur Singh, however, refuted the claims by the Rajasthan Police.
“Due process was carried out,” Singh said. “The team [Rajasthan] came and we let them carry out the visit and subsequent checking. A notice was also served at the house [Chopra’s]. We facilitated the entire process.”
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