Kandhamal: BJP candidate Ashok Sahu arrested for hate speech

In a repeat of the Varun Gandhi episode in Orissa, BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Kandhamal, Ashok Sahu was on Tuesday arrested  in connection with an alleged hate speech against Christians. 

The campaign for the first phase of polls to 10 Lok Sabha and 70 Assembly seats came to an end on Tuesday evening. Mr Sahu, who was evading for the past three days, was finally taken into police custody when he participating in a motorcycle rally in Phulbani town, the district headquarter of Kandhamal, this afternoon. 

Kandhamal district superintendent of police S. Praveen Kumar, who was waiting at the college square in the town along with his force, arrested him when the rally reached there. The BJP leader's supporters tried to resist the police but were overpowered. "Mr Sahu will be produced in the local court", Mr Kumar said.

Meanwhile, apprehending trouble from the saffron workers, police staged flag march in the town and stood guard at strategic points to prevent a possible backlash from the Sangh Parivar members. 

The arrest followed directions by the Election Commission to take action against Mr Sahu, a former IPS officer, for violating model code of conduct by making inflammatory speech to incite communal passion at an election rally at Raikia in Kandhamal district on April 5. 

The local returning officer had filed a first information report (FIR) in the Raikia police station against him on April 10 charging him under Sections 125 of Representation of People's Act, 1951 and section 153 of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion). 

The BJP, meanwhile, sharply reacted to the arrest, saying it was "undemocratic" and "arbitrary". "It is a black day for democracy in Orissa", an official statement issued by the party headquarters at Bhubaneswar, said. Incidentally, Mr Sahu is a former police officer. If the charges are proved, he could be in jail for up to three years. 

Source: Economic Times & IBN Live