Date:15/04/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/04/15/stories/2003041505061100.htm

National

Togadia remanded to judicial custody

By Our Staff Correspondent

JAIPUR APRIL 14. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary, Praveen Togadia, who was arrested in Ajmer district on Sunday for violating prohibitory orders and the ban on distribution of `trishuls', was today remanded to judicial custody for two days by a city court in Ajmer. The hearing on his bail application was postponed to April 16.

Mr. Togadia was arrested at Gegal near Ajmer when he was returning after participating in a "Dharma Sabha" organised by the VHP at Subhash Udyan where he distributed the banned `trishuls'.

Police registered a case against him under Section 4/25 of the Arms Act for possessing and distributing a banned weapon, Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code for violating the prohibitory orders and Section 153-A of the I.P.C. for inciting communal passions and doing an act prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Lata Gaur, at her residence this morning with a plea for seven days' police remand to enable police to recover the "trishuls" from him. However, the magistrate sent him to judicial custody and directed him to be produced in her court on April 16, when she would hear arguments on his bail application.

The VHP has called for a State-wide bandh tomorrow. The Opposition BJP has extended its support to the bandh call and asked its functionaries and workers to cooperate with the VHP activists in making it a success.

The Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, in a statement here, alleged that the Sangh Parivar was vitiating the atmosphere in the State to derive "political mileage". "We will not allow the Sangh Parivar outfits under any circumstances to indulge in Gujarat-like violence and destroy communal harmony or hamper industrial activities in our peaceful State," he said.

However, the VHP vice-president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, who arrived in Ajmer today, warned that the State Government would be held responsible for any communal trouble during the bandh. Police arrested three more office-bearers, Sarveshwar Agrawal, Gopi Krishna Shriya and J.L. Chaudhary, of the Ajmer unit of the VHP on charges similar to those framed against Mr. Togadia.