Man Held for Protesting Against Bangle Seller Incident Has Pak Links: MP Govt

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has found “evidence” that shows one of the men arrested in connection with a protest and for spreading inflammatory messages after the bangle seller incident in Indore has links with Pakistan through social media, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday. He also claimed the arrested person, identified as Altamash Khan, is associated with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) headed by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. Police arrested four persons, including Altamash Khan, on charges of spreading inflammatory messages on social media and conspiring to trigger riots in Indore city, on Saturday. As per the evidence found (during the investigation), one of the arrested persons, Altamash Khan, who staged a protest at a police station (in Indore) after the bangle seller incident, has links with Pakistan through Whatsapp and Facebook, Mishra told reporters. He said objectionable material, including videos and audios, were found from Khan which the latter had planned to release gradually. Mishra also said Khan is associated with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) of Asaduddin Owaisi. The objectionable material found with Khan was enough to disturb the peace in Madhya Pradesh. Interrogation of these four arrested people is underway, he said. Police had said the arrested accused, identified as Altamash Khan, Mohammad Imran Ansari, Javed Khan and Syed Irfan Ali, all in the age group of 20 and 30 years, are inspired by a radical ideology. They spread inflammatory messages on social media related to a conspiracy to trigger communal riots at different places by creating a sense of discontent among people over some recent incidents in Indore city, police said.

A case was registered against them under section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) along with other sections of the Indian Penal Code, police said. The bangle seller, Taslim Ali, was thrashed in Govind Nagar of Indore on August 22 for using a ‘fake” name while selling bangles to women in the locality. Four persons were arrested in connection with the assault.

Ali was later arrested for allegedly touching a minor girl inappropriately and also for forgery, police had said.

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