Indian police on Sunday booked leaders and workers of the Congress party on sedition charges for allegedly chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans during a protest rally against Uri attack.
The protesters led by district and city unit presidents Arun Pratap Singh and Yaseen Qureshi in the city of Moradabad, took to the roads Saturday to protest against the militant attack in India-held Kashmir which killed 18 Indian soldiers.
Local police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) Indian Penal Code Section 124-A after it was informed about the ‘anti-national’ slogans.
The police also acquired video evidence of the rally, which the Congress leaders claim to be doctored.
The leaders of the political party have stated that they too have a recording of the rally, and they can prove the video evidence available with the police is doctored.
“We found ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ was chanted (after studying the footage), and an FIR was lodged under IPC Section 124-A (sedition),” said Dhruv Kumar, Station Officer, Thakurdwara.
Sub-Inspector Amit Sharma of Thakurdwara police station, who filed the complaint, said, “We are trying to identify the people seen shouting the slogan.”
Moradabad SSP Nitin Tiwari said action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation.
Congress district president Singh said, “There were nearly 2,000 people in the rally and no one raised any anti-national slogan or shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.
He added that the video the police are accusing them with is doctored and the FIR was lodged under pressure from the local Samajwadi Party MLA Nawab Jaan.
Courtesy: The Indian Express