Vegetable vendor who deployed bouncers to guard tomatoes in Varanasi arrested

A vegetable shop owner, who had deployed bouncers to guard tomatoes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, and his son were arrested by the police on various charges including promoting hatred, enmity or ill will between classes.

According to the police sources here on Monday, the cops were looking for one Ajay Yadav alias Ajay Fauji, an alleged Samajwadi Party (SP) worker, who had turned vegetable seller and had also recorded a video of the bouncers guarding tomatoes and posted it on social media platforms as a mark of protest against the skyrocketing prices of tomatoes.

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SP president Akhilesh Yadav had also tweeted the video on Sunday and attacked the BJP government for failing to control the prices of tomatoes. Akhilesh, apparently taunting the state government, demanded 'Z Plus' security for tomatoes.

Police sources said that a case was lodged under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against three persons, including the shop owner, his son and the SP worker-turned-seller on Sunday.

Ajay had earlier said that he had deployed the bouncers as he feared that the buyers could create trouble after being told that tomatoes were being sold at Rs 150-160 per kilogram. ''People often get angry when told about the price of tomatoes..., the bouncers were deployed as a precautionary measure,'' he added.

The police claimed that Ajay had deliberately staged the protest for publicity.

Akhilesh, however, slammed the state government for arrests and said that it showed the ''reality of democracy'' in India. ''If, in a country, there is no place for healthy criticism then it should be understood that the government is scared... it is useless to talk about the Mother of Democracy under such circumstances,'' the SP president said.