Kolkata, Dec 11 (IANS) A city court on Thursday granted bail to three persons who were arrested on charges of assaulting two vendors during a Gita recital event on December 7. Soumik Golder, Swarnendu Chakraborty and Tarun Bhattacharya were released on bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 1,000 each.

Their lawyer told the court the accused had found chicken in the vegetable patties they had ordered. The public prosecutor argued that religious sentiments had been hurt.

Meanwhile, a written complaint has been filed against one of the assaulted vendors, Sheikh Riyazul, at the Maidan police station, alleging he sold non-vegetarian patties as vegetarian during the event at Brigade Parade Ground.

After the accused were produced in court on Thursday, defence lawyers said vegetarian patties had been requested from the vendors. However, on breaking them open, chicken was found inside, the defence contended. The lawyer further said one of the accused, Soumik Golder, is suffering from cancer and has lost a leg, and he urged the court to grant bail to all three.

The public prosecutor, however, said the defence was giving its own version of events. He maintained that two vendors were assaulted at the Maidan event and that the attack had hurt religious sentiments, making the offence non-bailable. He opposed bail and sought police custody, but the judge granted bail to all three accused.

On Thursday, Union Minister of State for Education and DoNER Sukanta Majumdar demanded the unconditional release of those arrested.

“The problem is not about selling patties. The problem is about selling chicken patties while claiming them to be vegetable. There is a difference between the two. I eat chicken. But someone else might not. You cannot make them eat chicken by lying to them. That is a crime,” he said.

Kolkata Police had arrested the three men for publicly harassing and assaulting two vendors selling chicken patties at Brigade Parade Ground during the Gita recital on Sunday.

The arrested have been identified as Soumik Golder (23), Tarun Bhattacharya (51) and Swarnendu Chakraborty (32). While Golder and Chakraborty are from Gobardanga and Ashoknagar in North 24 Parganas respectively, Bhattacharya is from Uttarpara in Hooghly district. They were arrested based on complaints lodged by two vendors at Maidan police station.

The accused had come to Kolkata on December 7 to attend the ‘Panch Lakkho Konthe Gita Path’ (Gita chanting by five lakh voices) programme at Brigade Parade Ground organised by the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad, a collective of monks and spiritual leaders from various monasteries and Hindu institutions.

At the event, vendors Sheikh Riyazul from Arambagh in Hooghly district and Mohammad Salauddin from Topsia in Kolkata were selling food to the large crowd. According to the complaints, some young men began questioning them, asking how they could sell chicken patties at a religious event. The questioning turned into insults and harassment. The vendors were reportedly made to do sit-ups while holding their ears and were slapped and punched by the accused. A video of the harassment went viral on social media. One vendor alleged food worth approximately Rs 3,000 was destroyed.

Following the incident, the two victims filed separate complaints at Maidan police station. The police launched an investigation, verified CCTV footage and videos, identified the accused and made the arrests.

–IANS

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