An arrest warrant has been issued against Abhishek Choubey’s son, Arijit Choubey for fuelling the Bhagalpur communal clash. But he has denied allegations and has said he will move an anticipatory bail plea and also said he would not surrender.
His exact words were, “Why should I surrender? I have taken refuge under honourable court. I haven’t run away. One should chase and trace those who are hiding, not me. I am still living within society.“
The Union Minister’s son is accused of promoting communal clashes in Nathnagar, between two communities on the outskirts of Bhagalpur. The clashes occurred on March 17th in Bihar. The Bhagalpur court had issued arrest warrants against Arijit and 8 other BJP members.
While Arijit said he would apply for bail, he also said that he would cooperate with the court and was certain that justice will be delivered. He said he would do as was asked of him. Arijit fell into trouble as it was his procession to celebrate the first day of ‘Vikram Samvat’ that stirred trouble in the area. The procession came through without permission from the district administration. Ashwini Choubey came to the defense of his son and said the FIRs are all ‘lies’. He also pointed out that there is nothing wrong with celebrating the Hindu New Year.
Listen Mr. CM ????
Arjit Chaube son of Union Min Ashwini Chaube is Wanted in a case. Nitish govt hv issued arrest warrant on him for inciting riots in Bhagalpur but today he took out another procession on the occasion of Ram Navami armed with a sword accompanied by BJP MLAs. pic.twitter.com/ArflXLWwHf
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) March 25, 2018
Nitish (Kumar) should be asked why is this happening. What is the police doing? Police has the warrant, they should go ahead and catch him: Subramanian Swamy on Union Minister Ashwini Choubey’s son Arijit Shashwat pic.twitter.com/u4RlL9WbDQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2018
Other party members like Tejashwi Yadav were livid and firmly believed that Choubey was at fault and that the state government was dealing with the matter lightly. BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy also questioned Nitish Kumar and the police in Bihar for not taking action despite having the warrants. Arijit Choubey said that he was not being blamed for inciting the clashes but rather he is being booked under the Loudspeakers Act. He conceded that the slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ might have hurt sentiments of the people.