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Adhikari said he stood by the accused “as a Hindu” doing his duty, vowing that “the fight to protect religion will continue … I stand with every Hindu, along with countless supporters of Hindutva.”

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West Bengal Leader of opposition and BJP state head Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday publicly honoured three men who had been arrested a day earlier for allegedly assaulting Muslim food vendors at a mass Gita-chanting event in Kolkata, PTI reported.

Police detained the trio – Soumik Golder, Tarun Bhattacharya and Swarnendu Chakraborty – late on Wednesday on allegations that they attacked vendors selling non-vegetarian snacks during the Panch Lokkho Konthe Gitapath, a large scripture-recitation gathering organised on Sunday by Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad, a collective of monks and Hindutva groups. All three were released on bail within hours, each on a personal bond of 1,000 rupees.

Two Muslim vendors, Sheikh Riyajul and Salauddin, had filed police complaints accusing attendees of questioning their names, calling them “Bangladeshi infiltrators” and throwing away their food items. Officers subsequently booked the accused under charges including unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, outraging religious feelings, criminal intimidation and mischief, according to police reports.

Adhikari, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and a prominent critic of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, posted photos of himself felicitating the three men. “I want to tell Mamata Banerjee that you cannot suppress ‘sanatanis’ by unleashing your loyalist police on them,” he wrote, adding that he supported them “as a Hindu” performing his duty. “The fight to protect religion will continue, and in this fight, I stand with every Hindu, along with countless supporters of Hindutva,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Adhikari accused Banerjee of interfering in police action. “Who is she to decide arrests?” he said. “I am a legislator, leader of the Opposition, a BJP member – all that comes later. First, I am a Hindu. If my Hindu brothers and sisters are in trouble, my primary duty is to protect my ‘dharma’.” He said he had sent a team of lawyers to assist the accused and coordinate their bail.

Chakraborty is reportedly described on social media as a state executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth wing; his father said he had earlier been associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological parent. BJP spokesperson Jeet Bose told The Telegraph that Golder is active in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

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