Betul, Jan 10 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh Police, on Saturday, arrested two persons for allegedly removing and burning saffron flags installed as part of the preparation for a Hindu sammelan (conference) to be organised in Lohiya town of Betul district.

The action came following a complaint received at the Kotwali police station, alleging that some anti-social elements burnt saffron flags installed at the venue and along the roadside late Friday night.

The complaint was filed by Romit Uike, a member of organising committee of the Hindu Conference.

The Hindu Conference, a social and religious programme is being organised on January 18, which is part of the centenary year celebration of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

According to the police, when the local RSS workers gathered for a ‘Shakha’ and proceeded for a ‘prabhat-pheri’ (morning walk) early Saturday morning when they noticed that around eight to 10 saffron flags were missing and were allegedly burnt.

The incident sparked tension in the area as a large number of right-wing activists gathered at the spot and staged a protest, demanding an action into the matter.

Betul Superintendent of Police (SP), Virendra Jain, along with some senior administrative officials reached the spot and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Meanwhile, heavy security was deployed and the area was cornered off to maintain the law and order in the area.

During the investigation, police teams scanned multiple CCTV cameras installed in nearby buildings and found that two persons were allegedly removing saffron flags.

“A CCTV footage revealed that two persons arrived in a Santro car, removed saffron flags and burnt them. Subsequently, a search operation began to trace the accused persons,” SP Jain said.

After hours-long search, police eventually traced both the persons seen in a CCTV footage and they were arrested by Saturday evening.

The accused duo has been identified as Taufeeq and Musharraf.

They have been booked under the Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to Betul SP Jain.

“A Hindu conference is scheduled to be held in the Ganj area’s Lohia Ward and saffron flags were installed for this purpose. On Saturday morning, a complaint was filed at the police station saying that eight to 10 saffron flags were removed and burned by some individuals with the intent to hurt religious sentiments and spread communal disharmony. The Police team have arrested two persons — Taufeeq and Musharraf,” SP Jain told IANS.

–IANS

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