Pune: City police on Sunday added the sedition charge in connection with the alleged raising of pro-Pakistan slogans during a protest organized by the Popular Front of India (PFI) here, officials said. Police had registered a case against 60 to 70 suspected PFI activists for unlawful assembly in connection with the protest held outside the district collector's office on Friday.
A Bundgarden police station officer said they have added sections 109 (An act committed in consequence of abetment), 120B (Criminal conspiracy), 124A (Punishment for sedition), 153 A and B (Promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the First Information Report (FIR).
"We have already registered cases against activists of PFI on Friday. Today, we added new sections in the matter and further investigation is going on," said Pratap Mankar, senior inspector, Bundgarden police station. Notably, the Supreme Court in May put on hold the colonial-era penal law on sedition till an appropriate government forum re-examines it and directed the Centre and states to not register any fresh FIR invoking the offense.
A video had surfaced on social media, which purportedly shows that the "Pakistan Zindabad" slogan was raised a couple of times when the agitating PFI activists were being bundled into a police vehicle. The protest was organized against the recent nationwide raids on the outfit and the arrest of its activists. During the protest, the police detained around 40 protesters.
Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Pune police commissioner to slap the sedition charge. "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 told reporters in Pune.
The raising of controversial slogans had led to a huge outrage, with leaders from BJP and MNS demanding stringent action. Congress had demanded a ban on organizations like PFI. In a massive crackdown on the PFI, multi-agency teams spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had, on Thursday, arrested 106 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic outfit in near-simultaneous raids in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.
Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 20 arrests each, Tamil Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh (5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry and Delhi (3 each), and Rajasthan (2). (with agency inputs)
