The Gujarat Police on Saturday arrested a Youth Congress leader for allegedly throwing ink on a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel during a protest, The Indian Express reported. He was granted bail on Sunday.
Vice president of Bharuch Youth Congress Nikhil Shah was part of a protest held at the city’s Collector’s office on Friday against the questioning of party chief Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi.
Gandhi was questioned in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. In protest, Congress members held nationwide demonstrations alleging that the Enforcement Directorate’s action reflected the “vendetta politics” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.
The Gujarat Police said that Congress workers did not have permission for the protest held in Bharuch.
“The accused Nikhil Shah had secretly brought an ink pen with him during the protests,” Sub-Inspector RK Dhulkar said, according to The Indian Express. “When Congress workers were staging protests at the gate, Shah threw ink at a hoarding of prime minister Modi and chief minister Patel. He was detained on the spot.”
Shah was formally arrested on Saturday and charged under Section 505 1(b) (committing an offence to cause alarm among the public) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Bharuch district Congress Committee president, Parimalsinh Rana, however, claimed that CCTV footage from the protest does not show Shah throwing ink at the posters.
“Then why was he arrested?” Rana told The Indian Express. “It is a clear way of intimidation by police to lower the morale of party workers. The state government through the police is trying to suppress Congress workers.”
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