Nagpur Violence: Accused Fahim Khan Seeks Bail, Claims Political Vendetta Against Him
Fahim Khan, accused in Nagpur violence, seeks bail alleging political vendetta for seeking action against VHP activists.
Fahim Khan, a `key' accused in the cases related to the violence that erupted in Nagpur city earlier this week, has moved the sessions court seeking bail while claiming that his arrest was "political vendetta" as he had sought action against VHP activists.
Khan, city president of the Minorities Democratic Party, was arrested on March 19, two days after the incidents of rioting and arson, and remanded in police custody. After his remand ended on Friday, the court sent him in judicial custody in view of his ill-health.
The police said it would seek his custody later.
Khan also filed a bail application before the Nagpur district sessions court. It is likely to come up for hearing on March 24, his lawyer Ashwin Ingole said.
He had been falsely implicated in the case and there was no evidence to show that he instigated the mobs to go on a rampage on March 17, the bail application said.
The allegations levelled against him were "false and baseless", and police did not attribute any overt role to him in the violence, he said.
The case registered against him was "political vendetta" as on March 18 he had demanded that First Information Reports (FIRs) be registered against members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the bail application claimed.
Large-scale stone pelting and arson were reported in several parts of Nagpur on the evening of March 17 after rumours began circulating about a 'chadar' with holy inscriptions being burnt during protests led by the VHP seeking the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Thirty-three police personnel, including three Deputy Commissioner-rank officers, were injured.
The police booked Fahim Khan, said to be a "key accused", and five others on the charges of sedition and spreading misinformation on social media.
Fourteen more persons were arrested on Friday, taking the total number of arrests to 105, including 10 juveniles, a senior police official said.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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