Political News: Former BSP MLA Booked for Provoking ‘Religious Enmity’ in Ghaziabad

Former Bahujan Samajwadi Party MLA Aslam Chaudhary has been booked here on charges of provoking enmity between religious groups owing to a video clip in which he was seen rebuking Loni MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar, police here said on Sunday. An FIR was filed against the ex-Dhaulana legislator – who recently joined the Samajwadi Party – at the Masuri Police Station in the district here.

In a video which circulated on social media, Chaudhary was seen addressing a gathering of people and questioning the November 11 encounter in Loni in which seven Muslim men (including a juvenile, it has been alleged) received bullet injuries in leg during a raid conducted to nab cow slaughterers. The raid was conducted under Loni Border SHO Rajendra Tyagi, who has since been a subject of an inquiry for the alleged encounter.

Chaudhary in the video accused Gurjar of giving patronage to Tyagi for the alleged encounter and of working to stop his transfer. In his speech, Chaudhary was also heard saying that he will exact revenge on Gurjar for the encounter. If you want to take revenge, you (Muslims) have to educate your children to make them officers, he also allegedly said. The FIR against Chaudhary was registered at the complaint of sub-inspector Lokesh Kumar posted in Dasna town under section 506, 505 C, and 153 of the Indian Penal Code, police said. Reacting to what was said in the video, Gurjar, a BJP MLA, allegedly called Chaudhary an uneducated man who shoots his mouth off. He also accused him of giving patronage to the cow smugglers and said he should be booked under the National Security Act.