COIMBATORE: After communal tensions prevailed in Mettupalayam on Sunday, Coimbatore district police arrested BJP functionary R Kalyanaraman (54), a BJP state executive member from Mannadi in Chennai, as well as former Mettupalayam municipality chairman and a BJP divisional organisation secretary D Sathishkumar (49) on Monday on charges of hate speech and creating enmity between two communities at a BJP demonstration.
The duo was booked under Sections 147 (Punishment for rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149(unlawful assembly), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505(ii) (Statements conducing to public mischief), 153(A) (Promoting enmity between different groups), 153(B) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 269 (Negligently doing any act known to be likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code. Police are also investigating a few others who had a role in organising the demonstration.
The BJP’s demonstration was held near Abhirami theatre at Mettupalayam on Sunday evening to condemn the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for allegedly defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi during its protest on January 26.
Objecting to this, president of Ikkiya Jamath and Islamic federation AJ Mohammad Sherif lodged a complaint with Mettupalayam police and stated Kalyanaraman's speech was provocative and controversial. Meanwhile, a few SDPI cadres went to the BJP's protest venue and appealed to functionaries to call off the protest but were allegedly attacked. BJP functionaries, however, accused SDPI cadre of pelting stones and hurling logs at them. As the situation threatened to deteriorate, police used mild force to bring things under control.
Subsequently, two SDPI cadres were booked and one of them, R Mohammad Ashraf (27), was arrested on Monday evening. Also, over 20 SDPI members were booked for creating ruckus on January 26. Two of them, namely Noufal and Suber Ali, were arrested on Monday evening on charges of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A senior police official said that Coimbatore district police had been instructed to do a detailed investigation on the incident and arrest those who provoked communal tension at the earliest.
As many as 400 police personnel from Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Nilgiris have been deployed in Mettupalayam to prevent any untoward situations. Tirupur city police commissioner G Karthikeyan (in-charge IG of west zone), DIG's Narenthiran Nair (Coimbatore range), Pradeep Kumar (Salem range), Coimbatore police superintendent Ara Arularasu and SP's from Erode and Nilgiris are camping at Mettupalayam to monitor the situation, said police sources.
Although Coimbatore city police denied permission for Muslim organisations to hold demonstrations condemning the incident, stray protests from both sides were seen in the city on Monday.