Hindu Army chief Sushil Tiwari arrested for raising communal slogans

Hindu Army chief Sushil Tiwari has been arrested for allegedly raising slogans against a community during a protest near the Jantar Mantar here, police said on Saturday.

Tiwari, a native of Lucknow, was questioned on Friday night, following which he was arrested, a senior police officer said.

Two video clips had surfaced, and in one of them, Tiwari was seen using foul language and raising slogans against a community, police said.

Six people, including advocate and former BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, have already been arrested in the case. The slogans, police said, were raised during the August 8 protest organised by the Bharat Jodo Andolan held near the Jantar Mantar.

The earlier arrests were made after an FIR was registered at the Connaught Place Police Station. It pertained to provocative sloganeering at the programme, they said. Besides Upadhyay, Preet Singh, Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar, Vinod Sharma and Vinit Bajpai have been arrested, police said, adding that Tiwari is the sixth to be arrested in the case.

Preet Singh is the director of ‘Save India Foundation’ while Deepak Singh, Deepak Kumar and Vinod Sharma are associated with different right-wing organisations. The videos showing slogans being raised against a community during the protest was widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case.

Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by Bharat Jodo Andolan.

Shipra Srivastava, media in-charge of Bharat Jodo Aandolan, had said the protest was held under the leadership of Upadhyay.

However, she denied any links to those who raised anti-Muslim slogans.

“The protest was held against colonial laws and demanding to abolish 222 British laws. We have seen the video, but have no idea who they are. The police should take strict action against those who raised the slogans,” Srivastava had said.

Upadhyay has denied his involvement.

“I have submitted a complaint to the Delhi Police to examine the video which went viral. If the video is authentic, strict action should be taken against the persons who were involved in it," he had said.

“If the video is fake, then a propaganda is being circulated to defame Bharart Jodo Andolan,” Upadhyay had said.