SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 22: The Giridih police sent three accused including the Mukhiya candidate of Panchayat polls for the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ shouting incident to jail.
Gandey police station officer in-charge Hussnain Ansari told media persons that arrested persons Md Shakir (Mukhiya candidate), Md Ashique and Shoaib Akhtar were sent to jail while a search operation is on for arresting other people involved in the incident.
Heavy police force have been deployed in Dokidih Panchayat in wake of the arrests.
Earlier, the police produced arrested persons in the court of chief judicial magistrate from where they were forwarded to judicial custody. After conducting medical tests of the accused in Giridih sadar hospital amidst tight security, they were sent to jail.
On Wednesday afternoon (April 20), ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised by alleged supporters of Mukhiya candidate Md Shakir at Gandey block office of Giridih where he had come for filing nomination papers for Dokidih Panchayat.
However, a relative of Md Shakir alleged that police have made him (Shakir) an escape goat to save their skin in the incident.
“There is no proof that Shakir either chanted the slogan or asked his supporters to do so. Shakir was in the chamber of the official to file nomination when the outsiders allegedly raised the anti-national slogan in his procession,” he claimed.
Shakir’s family members said to media persons on Friday that it was a conspiracy of Shakir’s rival candidates of the Panchayat so that he (Shakir) could be defamed and prevented from contesting the Mukhiya election.
Shakir’s family members demanded proper probe of the incident and requested the police to identify the conspirators who raised the slogans.