Image courtesy: India Today
The Jharkhand Police have released images of people accused of participating in the violence that broke out in Ranchi on June 10, in wake of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s objectionable remarks about Prophet Mohammed.
Following pressure from Gulf countries the BJP was quick to remove Sharma from the primary membership of the party. Meanwhile, protests broke out in many cities across the country including Ranchi where stone pelting took place at a protest held after Friday prayers at the mosque on the main road, and police opened fire, allegedly causing the death of at least two people.
SabrangIndia had reported previously that on Monday, Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bias had summoned DGP Neeraj Sinha and Deputy Commissioner Ranchi Chhavi Ranjan, and asked them to make public names and addresses of all protesters and display their photographs on hoardings at main places so that the people can identify them and help the police.
Following this, the Jharkhand Police released posters with images of alleged rioters. According to a report in The Telegraph, the posters were released “after an elaborate exercise involving technical experts and photojournalists.”
However, Jagran now reports that the posters that had been put up in many public areas, have been taken down. According to the publication, posters were taken down late last evening after police claimed they needed to make some corrections. Meanwhile, a two-member fact-finding team of the Jharkhand government has been conducting a probe since Monday.
Meanwhile, some videos have emerged on social media where hitherto unsubstantiated claims have been made by eyewitnesses who spoke to Dainik Bhaskar, against one Bhairav Singh for masterminding the violence. It is also alleged that he is the one who started the stone pelting to instigate an outbreak of violence at the protest that was, at least until his intervention, peaceful. However, SabrangIndia has not been able to authenticate these videos independently.
In related news, Times Now anchor Navika Kumar has now been named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Parbhani district police, based on a complaint filed by a Muslim cleric on June 13. Kumar was the anchor of the show where Nupur Sharma had made the derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed that led to nationwide protests, and it is alleged that Kumar did not make any attempt to rein Sharma in.
Related:
Why is Jharkhand governor in favour of doxing alleged riot participants’ names?