Four arrested in MP town over protests against Dasna priest

In an FIR registered at Balaghat’s Kotwali police station, the complainant, Rameshwar Rana, district in-charge of Bajrang Dal, said the accused — Mateen Ajhari, Kasim Khan, Sohaib Khan and Raza Khan — had pasted a poster of the Dasna priest on the road and slapped it with shoes.

Durgesh Sharma, a member of the VHP, told reporters that Balaghat has been a peaceful district but a few people are trying to disrupt peace, which has been opposed by all Hindu outfits, including the VHP and Bajrang Dal. “If they were registering their opposition to something, it could be done through a memorandum. Such acts are not acceptable,” Sharma said.

Inspector Mansharam Romde of Kotwali police station confirmed that an FIR had been registered and the four men arrested. He refused to share any further details, calling it a communally sensitive matter.

A delegation of five people of the AIMIM have also written to the police urging them to take legal action against the Dasna priest for his remarks at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on April 1. “Instead of taking action against the saint who has hurt the sentiments of the entire Muslim community, four members of our community have been arrested,” said Nazim Khan, district in-charge of AIMIM in Balaghat.