Ram Navami violence: Ex-BJP MLA held in Bihar
April 29, 2023 19:53
![image](https://im.rediff.com/news/2023/apr/03bihar-violence-1.jpg)
Former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Jawahar Prasad has been arrested by Bihar
Police in connection with its investigation into communal clashes that
erupted during a Ram Navami procession in Sasaram district in March this
year.
The BJP alleged that the former Sasaram legislator
was arrested to 'appease' the minorities.
Prasad, a five-term
MLA from Sasaram assembly seat, was arrested from his house on Friday
night.
A court in Rohtas had issued a non-bailable warrant
against him.
Sasaram and Bihar Sharif, the district
headquarters of Rohtas and Nalanda districts respectively, had witnessed
violence following during Ram Navami processions on March 31 and April
1.
One person was killed in the clashes.
Commenting on
Prasad's arrest, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters on Saturday,
"Police are investigating the matter. The guilty will be brought to
book, irrespective of their political affiliation. Investigators are
doing their job I never intervene in the police probe."
The
BJP, on the other hand, claimed that Prasad was arrested to further the 'appeasement politics' of the ruling alliance.
BJP
spokesperson Nikhil Anand, in a statement, said, "The communal violence
in Sasaram was completely state-sponsored just to prevent the BJP from
celebrating Emperor Ashok's birth anniversary in which Union Home
Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest."
'The person who was
killed in the riot belonged to the OBC category. And now the state
government wants to make a popular OBC leader (Prasad) a scapegoat in
the case,' it said.
The BJP claimed that the Nitish Kumar
government wanted to book Prasad and other subaltern leaders as culprits
to further its 'appeasement politics'. -- PTI