Three more men were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly shouting “goli maaro… (shoot them)” on their way to Union home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Calcutta on Sunday.
They were picked up from Sodepur and Panihati, both on the northern fringes, and Bhowanipore.
Police said the accused — Sujit Barua, 52, Sandeep Sonekar, 27, and Prasanta Sarkar — were identified from photographs and video footage of the march towards the rally venue, the Shahid Minar ground.
Barua has been remanded in police custody till March 5. Police said Sonekar and Sarkar will be produced in court on Wednesday.
Surendra Kumar Tiwari, Pankaj Prasad and Dhruba Bose were arrested on Sunday for allegedly shouting “desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro…” on Sunday. Bose, 71, was granted bail because of his age.
Barua, the president of the Panihati North Mandal of the BJP, was arrested in Ghola, Sodepur. “Bhulu-da (Barua’s nickname is Bhulu) is bachelor. He lives with his elderly mother,” a neighbour said.
People close to Barua, who runs a travel agency, said he did not marry to work full-time for the party.
Police officers probing the case said video footage showed Barua, clad in a white kurta and jeans, waving a BJP flag and shouting the instigating slogan while marching through Chowringhee Road.
BJP leaders criticised the arrest. “He was only raising slogans against the gaddar (traitor)…. Instead police have arrested the man who was demanding the punishment for such traitors…” a BJP leader’s Facebook post reads.
Sonekar, a resident of Chetla, has been an active member of the BJP, sources said. He was held in Bhowanipore. “Video footage shows Sonekar and Panjak Prasad, one of the three arrested yesterday, marching together and shouting the slogan,” an officer said.
Sarkar was picked up from Panihati late on Tuesday.
Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/3-more-held-for-goli-maaro-slogan-in-calcutta/cid/1750765
