Guwahati (PTI): Four people associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal were arrested for vandalising decorative items used for Christmas celebrations at a school and damaging festive articles in shops in Assam’s Nalbari district, police said.
The arrests were made on Thursday, a senior officer said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed the police personnel for their prompt action and asserted that his government was committed to "maintaining peace, communal harmony, and ensuring the safety of all institutions and citizens across the state".
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The incident took place on Wednesday when the accused allegedly entered St Mary’s School in Panigaon village under the Belsor police station limits and burnt and damaged decorative items meant for Christmas celebrations.
"Miscreants who vandalised the school have been arrested. They entered the premises unlawfully," the officer said.
He added that the accused vandalised outer decorations, lights, plant pots, and other articles, as well as set some items on fire, resulting in loss of property.
"In connection with the vandalism at St. Mary’s English School, Panigaon, under Belsor Police Station, Nalbari district, the miscreants involved have been arrested. Assam Police acted promptly, and further action will be taken strictly as per law. We are fully committed to maintaining peace, communal harmony, and ensuring the safety of all institutions and citizens across the state," the CM said on X.
"A case has been registered at Belsor police station. Further investigation is going on. We are trying to identify some more people who were involved," the officer said.
The arrested persons are VHP Nalbari district secretary Bhaskar Deka, parishad's district vice-president Manash Jyoti Patgiri and assistant secretary Biju Dutta, along with Bajrang Dal's district convenor Nayan Talukdar, he added.
They had raised 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans and warned the school authorities not to organise Christmas celebrations on the school premises on Thursday, the officer said.
The accused also went to various shops selling Christmas goods in Nalbari town and set fire to some items near the Jain Mandir.
They also entered several shopping malls and business establishments selling Christmas items and burnt the goods, he added.
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Bengaluru: Congress leader and Chikballapura MLA Pradeep Eshwara raised doubts over the death of Businessman CJ Roy amid IT raids at his office in Bengaluru. He was addressing press persons in the city on Saturday.
“Did he really shoot himself using a pistol or did someone shoot him?,” Eshwar stated, raising suspicion.
C.J. Roy allegedly committed suicide on Friday. According to reports, the 57-year-old Confident Group Chairman allegedly shot himself using a pistol during Income Tax Raids at the Confident Group’s headquarters in Langford Town here.
Several media reports have claimed that Roy took the extreme over severe stress following repeated Income Tax raids on companies linked to him.
Speaking after a talent award ceremony for SSLC and PUC students held during the ongoing Kanakotsava celebrations in Kanakapura, he stated that there was no CCTV footage from the scene of the incident and that only Income Tax Department officials were present at the time. “We do not know what happened inside,” he added.
Furthermore, Eshwar alleged that as per his preliminary information, the Bharatiya Janata Party had forced Roy to find crores of rupees for elections. “They (BJP) were targeting Roy for refusing to give money. Our country cannot develop with such a corrupt BJP,” he said.
He also questioned the BJP’s silence over the issue, he asked, “Not only Ashokanna, Sunilanna, Yatnal, but also a monkey from Mysuru who keeps talking about everything. Why is no one speaking out about this?”
“The BJP is not allowing a common man to earn money. Roy has no debt, no problem. Income Tax officials have been harassing him for the past one month. If BJP is at the Centre, this harassment will continue,” he said, demanding an SIT investigation into the case.
SIT formed to probe the case
Meanwhile, Bengaluru Police on Saturday announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of C.J. Roy.
In a statement, police said that Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh has ordered a comprehensive and meticulous investigation into the case and transferred the probe to the SIT. The team will be headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (West Zone) C. Vamshi Krishna.
