Chhattisgarh Cong MLA arrested in arson case linked to Satnami protest

Durg/Balodabazar, Aug 18 (PTI) Congress MLA Devendra Yadav has been arrested in connection with violence in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar city on June 10 during a Satnami community agitation, a police official said.

Yadav has accused the BJP government of implicating Congress workers in the arson case.

The legislator was apprehended from his residence in Durg district and brought to Balodabazar, the headquarters of Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, where he was arrested on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Vijay Agrawal said.

Several supporters of Yadav gathered outside his residence in Bhilai Nagar area in Durg and raised slogans after the word spread about the police's action.

Yadav, an influential young face of the party, is a second-term MLA from Bhilai Nagar constituency.

Agrawal said Yadav was arrested in connection with a case registered at Kotwali police station in the Balodabazar arson incident.

The case was registered under various Indian Penal Code sections, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (punishment for rioting), 186 (voluntary obstruction of a public servant from performing their duties), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 307 (attempt to murder), and provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

Yadav was produced in a local court which remanded him to judicial custody till August 20, Agrawal said.

According to sources, police had summoned Yadav at least three times to record his statement but he did not cooperate, following which he was apprehended.

Police personnel from Balodabazar with their Durg counterparts reached Yadav's house at around 7 am.

As the news spread, Yadav's supporters tried to protect the MLA and raised slogans. Police finally managed to whisk away Yadav with them at around 5 pm, an official said.

Unidentified persons vandalised 'jaitkham' or 'victory pillar', a sacred symbol worshipped by the Satnami community, near the Amar Gufa at Giroudpuri Dham in Balodabazar-Bhatapara district on the intervening night of May 15 and 16, triggering protests in June.

On June 10, a mob set fire to a government office building and more than 150 vehicles in Balodabazar city during a protest called by Satnamis against the alleged ransacking of the 'victory pillar', leading to the imposition of section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Congress leaders, including Yadav, had allegedly attended a public meeting during the demonstration held by Satnamis at Dussehra Maidan.

Nearly 150 persons, including members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and the Bhim "Regiment" had been arrested in connection with the June 10 arson.

The influential Satnami community, founded by medieval-era social reformer Baba Guru Ghasidas, represents the largest Scheduled Castes group in Chhattisgarh.

Slamming the ruling BJP, Yadav said he was not scared of the government and would continue his fight for the people.

"The state government has been trying to implicate Congress workers in the Balodabazar arson case. The government took action against me for raising my voice for the youth of the Satnami community and innocents. I am not scared of the government and I will fight the legal battle," he said in Bhilai.

Yadav claimed he appeared before Balodabazar police in the past after being summoned.

Former state chief minister Bhupesh Baghel termed Yadav's arrest as a political vendetta and asked police not to act on political pressure.

"The role of the government and police in the entire incident is suspicious. No member of BJP was either questioned or arrested, despite the alleged role of its former MLA Sanam Jangde surfacing in the incident," Baghel alleged.

A video of a demonstration of the Satnami community shows Yadav neither climbing on the stage nor waiting there for long. The arrest of Devendra Yadav is purely out of political malice and "we oppose it," he said.

"We will take legal suggestions and decide accordingly the future course of action," Baghel added.

Yadav is also an accused in cases lodged by the Enforcement Directorate and the state's Anti Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing in connection with an alleged coal levy scam unearthed when the Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh. PTI