MEERUT: Police say they suspect Arun Jindal, an RSS pracharak hurt in Saturday’s clashes at Haathikhana area of Lalkurti, to be the man behind the violence that broke out as Janmashtami was celebrated. Policemen are now on alert and taking no chances as WhatsApp messages have been circulating, calling people to join a “mahaarti” at the very site of the violence.

Two platoons of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed in the area. Four police pickets have been set up.

“There was disagreement over where idols would be placed for Janmashthami aarti. One side wanted to place them at Haathikhana Crossing. Only two families in the area are from the majority community. Most of the shops and houses near the crossing belong to people from the other community. The disagreement snowballed into a clash,” SP (City) Om Prakash told TOI.

He said Meerut had been roiled by clashes at this time last year too. “Last year there was violence over the same issue in this area. It was decided that idols would not be placed near the communally sensitive Haathikhana Crossing. We have a document signed by local residents from both communities, agreeing that they would not place idols there. However, we got information that preparations were being made for aarti this year. We sent senior police officers, including assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Sankalp Sharma, to the spot to dissuade people from fomenting trouble. However, Arun Jindal defied the police and chose that very spot for the aarti. He does not even live near the crossing. We anticipated that there would be some trouble, so we posted two constables and a sub-inspector there. We were proved right, and we needed to rush a force to the area once clashes erupted.”

Om Prakash said he suspected that Jindal was behind the WhatsApp messages that invite people to gather for a mahaarti at the very site of the violence. “We have not booked him yet but we may do so after a meeting of top police officers,” he said.

Speaking to TOI, Jindal said “religious freedom” was his right. “In a free country like India, do we need permission to pray to the gods we believe in? This is not Pakistan. This is India. It is a free country. When we were organizing the ‘aarti’, some people from another community came and told us that we could not do so since they were in a majority in the area. That is not logic that works in a secular country.” He also denied having anything to do with the WhatsApp messages about the “mahaarti”.

Meanwhile, the man accused of beating Jindal has been taken into custody.

Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, station officer at Lalkurti police station, said, “Jindal was attacked by about 30 people. We booked the accused under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence commit¬ted in prosecution of common object) and 153 (wantonly provoking riot) of the IPC and Section 310 of the SC/ST Act.”

