PFI protest slogan video: Pune police takes U-turn, says sedition cost not invoked

By PTI

PUNE: In a U-turn, the Pune police on Sunday night denied including the sedition cost in reference to a case in opposition to the Popular Front of India (PFI) activists and the alleged elevating of pro-Pakistan slogans throughout a protest organised right here by the outfit.

Earlier, senior inspector Pratap Mankar of the Bundgarden police station, the place the case has been registered, stated part 124A (punishment for sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been added within the case, however the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Sagar Patil later made it clear that the cost has not been slapped.

Police had registered the case in opposition to 60-70 suspected PFI activists for illegal meeting in reference to the protest held outdoors the district collector’s workplace on Friday.

Mankar stated the police have added IPC sections 124A (sedition), 109 (act dedicated in conse­quence of abetment), 120B (felony conspiracy), 153 A and B (selling enmity between totally different teams) within the First Information Report (FIR).

However, DCP Patil later stated, “We did not add section 124A in the case. The Supreme Court order says this section cannot be invoked as one case pertaining to this is already going on in the court.”

The apex court docket had in May placed on maintain the colonial-era penal regulation on sedition until an “appropriate” authorities discussion board re-examines it and directed the Centre and states to not register any contemporary FIR invoking the offence.

A video had surfaced on social media, which purportedly reveals that the “Pakistan Zindabad” slogan was raised a few instances when the agitating PFI activists have been being bundled right into a police automobile on Friday.

The protest was organised in opposition to the current nationwide raids on the outfit and the arrest of its activists. During the protest, the police detained round 40 protesters.

Patil stated earlier within the day that some movies have been circulating on social media and a radical investigation was being carried out.

“The videos which were available on social media will be sent for forensic investigation and we will take strict action,” he stated.

Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Pune police commissioner to slap the sedition cost.

“We do not support such slogans. The anti-India slogans will not be tolerated in the state as well as in the country. I have instructed the Pune police commissioner to file a case invoking sedition in the matter,” he advised reporters in Pune.

The elevating of controversial slogans had led to an enormous outrage, with leaders from BJP and MNS demanding stringent motion. Congress had demanded a ban on organisations like PFI.

In a large crackdown on the PFI, multi-agency groups spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had, on Thursday, arrested 106 leaders and activists of the unconventional Islamic outfit in near-simultaneous raids in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror actions within the nation.

Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 20 arrests every, Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 every) and Rajasthan (2).

PUNE: In a U-turn, the Pune police on Sunday night denied including the sedition cost in reference to a case in opposition to the Popular Front of India (PFI) activists and the alleged elevating of pro-Pakistan slogans throughout a protest organised right here by the outfit.

Earlier, senior inspector Pratap Mankar of the Bundgarden police station, the place the case has been registered, stated part 124A (punishment for sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been added within the case, however the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Sagar Patil later made it clear that the cost has not been slapped.

Police had registered the case in opposition to 60-70 suspected PFI activists for illegal meeting in reference to the protest held outdoors the district collector’s workplace on Friday.

Mankar stated the police have added IPC sections 124A (sedition), 109 (act dedicated in conse­quence of abetment), 120B (felony conspiracy), 153 A and B (selling enmity between totally different teams) within the First Information Report (FIR).

However, DCP Patil later stated, “We did not add section 124A in the case. The Supreme Court order says this section cannot be invoked as one case pertaining to this is already going on in the court.”

The apex court docket had in May placed on maintain the colonial-era penal regulation on sedition until an “appropriate” authorities discussion board re-examines it and directed the Centre and states to not register any contemporary FIR invoking the offence.

A video had surfaced on social media, which purportedly reveals that the “Pakistan Zindabad” slogan was raised a few instances when the agitating PFI activists have been being bundled right into a police automobile on Friday.

The protest was organised in opposition to the current nationwide raids on the outfit and the arrest of its activists. During the protest, the police detained round 40 protesters.

Patil stated earlier within the day that some movies have been circulating on social media and a radical investigation was being carried out.

“The videos which were available on social media will be sent for forensic investigation and we will take strict action,” he stated.

Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Pune police commissioner to slap the sedition cost.

“We do not support such slogans. The anti-India slogans will not be tolerated in the state as well as in the country. I have instructed the Pune police commissioner to file a case invoking sedition in the matter,” he advised reporters in Pune.

The elevating of controversial slogans had led to an enormous outrage, with leaders from BJP and MNS demanding stringent motion. Congress had demanded a ban on organisations like PFI.

In a large crackdown on the PFI, multi-agency groups spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had, on Thursday, arrested 106 leaders and activists of the unconventional Islamic outfit in near-simultaneous raids in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror actions within the nation.

Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 20 arrests every, Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 every) and Rajasthan (2).