Indore police arrest 4 youth from Garba on Bajrang Dal's 'Love Jihad' allegation

Bhopal: Four youngsters were arrested in Indore and were named under public nuisance charges after Bajrang Dal caught them outside a Garba organised by Oxford College in the city on Sunday night, The Indian Express (TIE) reported. Two of the arrestees, Adnan Shah and Kadir Mansoori, are students of the college, while the other two, Umar Khalid and Sayyad Sakib, were their friends.

Bajrang Dal members handed them over to the police and claimed they violated Covid norms and promoted "Love Jihad".

The Superintendent of Police, Indore West, Maheshchand Jain, told TIE that the action took against the four was unfair and was against his recommendation. But Malharganj Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), Parag Jain, said that arrest was made under public nuisance, as per the police report, and the families of the arrestees failed to present bail bonds. Also, the event flaunted Covid norms, he added.

Bajrang Dal and VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) district-in-charge, Tarun Devda, wrote to police that the SDM only permitted 800 people while the programme sold around 3000 tickets. Bajrang Dal accused the college of "commercialisation", assembling young women, promoting "Love Jihad", and "distorting the purity of the event". It sought an inquiry and action against the organisers, claiming that it had photos and videos of the event.

A volunteer of the event, Habib Noor, also a student of the college, told TIE that Bajrang Dal nabbed Mansoori from the parking area, saying "he is one of theirs". Kadir was dragged away despite him telling them he was a student. Adnan was also taken after that.

Adnan's uncle said that they were unable to reach the police all of Sunday night. According to him, on Monday early morning though police assured him that the arrestees would be produced before SDM, they were sent to jail without his knowledge.

The Oxford College owner did not respond to TIE's calls or messages seeking comment.