Ahmedabad: Police personnel detain people during their protest demanding arrest of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks against Prophet Muhammad, in Ahmedabad, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
Highlights
- 5 people were arrested in Rajkot and 3 in Surat by Gujarat Police.
- Those arrested allegedly stuck posters of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma.
- Apart from that, a WhatsApp message was also circulated by them, inciting communal violence.
The Gujarat Police has arrested eight people for sticking posters of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma with the impression of shoe print. 5 people were arrested in Rajkot, whereas 3 were arrested in Surat. Apart from sticking posters, the accused allegedly also tried to create unrest by circulating a message on WhatsApp asking Muslims to ensure what happened in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand is also repeated in Gujarat.
In the last 2 to 3 days, a WhatsApp video had gone viral in which two individuals could be seen sticking posters of Nupur Sharma with a symbol of a shoe print on it. The text message also tells Muslims that their objective will not be met by merely printing 40-50 posters but more was needed to be done to ensure that the events of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand get repeated.
On closer investigation of the viral video and the message, the police was able to track down Mohammed Taufiq Mohammed Rafig Shaikh
(resident of Chand Subedar Building, Nanpura) and Saddam Rauf Syed (resident of Jamalsha Mohalla, Kadasha Ni Naal), as the persons who
were seen in the viral video sticking the posters of Nupur Sharma.
Interrogation of these two led the police to Imran Habib Khan Pathan, who is an employee at a printing press in Surat and printed the posters of Nupur Sharma for them
Similarly, 5 people were detained in Rajkot for sticking posters of Nupur Sharma. All five were identified after police accessed CCTV footage of them sticking the posters in Rajkot.
Prominent members of the minority community had submitted a memorandum to the Rajkot district collector three days ago as a mark of protest against Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammed.
