Videos show Hindu Raksha Dal handing out swords; leader urges Hindus to defend themselves and vows retaliation against jihadists.
Police have arrested 10 members of a Hindu nationalist group for allegedly distributing swords during a rally in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, authorities said on Monday.
The arrests followed the circulation of videos on social media showing members of the Hindu Raksha Dal displaying and handing out swords in the Shalimar Garden area of Ghaziabad district.
Assistant Police Commissioner Atul Kumar Singh said a first information report had been filed against 16 identified individuals and between 25 and 30 unidentified people.
Bhupendra Chaudhary, also known as Pinki, the national president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, has been named in the case and is currently absconding, Singh said, according to the Hindustan Times.
In one of the videos, Chaudhary was heard saying, “The way our Hindu brothers have been killed in Bangladesh…Hindus should keep swords to defend themselves.”
“The Hindu Raksha Dal will respond to every single jihadist in his own language,” he added.
Chaudhary was referring to the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, a factory worker who was beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district on Dec. 18 after being accused of blasphemy.
Police said members of the group also raised communal slogans while marching through the area with weapons, news agency PTI reported.
The case has been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to rioting, rioting with deadly weapons and wrongful confinement, along with provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, police told the Hindustan Times.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patil said further charges could be added as the investigation progresses and that efforts were ongoing to locate the remaining suspects.
“Police will not permit any outfit to disturb harmony and law and order,” he said.
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