BHOPAL: Two FIRs have been registered against BJP municipal councillor Omprakash alias Gabbar Kushwah in connection with the April 12 violence during an unauthorised Hanuman Jayanti procession in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district. The procession, taken out by Kushwah without official permission, led to communal tensions in the Karnal Ganj locality.One FIR was filed on the complaint of Irfan Khan, a 35-year-old Muslim man who sustained injuries during the violence. Khan alleged that Kushwah and his associates—Vishal Annotiya, Ghotu Soni, and Monu Ojha—brutally attacked him in the Batik Mohalla area after engaging in stone-pelting in nearby Dhobi Mohalla.The second FIR was lodged by the police on the complaint of Assistant Sub-Inspector Mahesh Lakda. It accuses Kushwah and his aides including Monu Ojha, Vishal Annotiya, Sanjay Raghuvanshi and 10-15 others organising an unauthorised procession, misbehaving with police personnel, playing loud DJ music near a mosque, raising provocative slogans such as “We will send Muslims to Pakistan,” and pelting stones near the mosque.Both FIRs invoke relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to rioting, criminal intimidation, assault on public servants, deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings and insulting religious beliefs. In a related development, members of Hindu right wing group Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)—including former municipal councillor Manish Sharma—were booked for rioting and wrongful restraint during violent protests held in Guna town on April 14. Thousands of right-wing activists reportedly attempted to enter the Muslim-majority Karnal Ganj area, demanding demolition of homes belonging to Muslims accused of being involved in the April 12 violence.Meanwhile, 17 people—mostly Muslims—have been arrested in connection with the April 12 violence that happened during the Hanuman Jayanti procession, including history-sheeter Vicky Khan and his son Sameer.
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