Nagpur Riots: Sedition Charges, Female Cop Assaulted, Fahim Khan's Role, a Detailed Look at FIRs, Claims of Maharashtra Police and CM Devendra Fadnavis

"It is your Constitutional right to protest against someone. But how can you burn kalme ki chadar? We always get a lollipop of assurance from the police. We told them that you will call them (Hindu protesters) and let them off in two hours. In the future, they will repeat this behaviour more courageously", said Fahim Shamim Khan, a local politician, outside the Ganesh Peth police station of Maharashtra's Nagpur on 17 March hours before communal riots broke out. The city president of the Minorities Democratic Party (MDP), Khan contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully against Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari.Khan, surrounded by his supporters, had addressed the media just after submitting a complaint to the police for the immediate arrest of local leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal who carried out protests near the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the Gandhi Gate area on Monday.Khan alleged that while these outfits protested to remove the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), they burned a 'chadar' with holy inscriptions.The police told him that a First Information Report (FIR) was already filed against VHP and Bajrang Dal protesters, and that action will be taken. But communal riots erupted in several localities shortly after Three days on, Khan has now been booked under sedition charges for his role in the riots. The first FIR against him and 51 others was filed on 18 March in which they were booked under 57 sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and six other penal codes for allegedly inciting communal violence by leading a mob and spreading rumours.While the police and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the allegationsof the chadar with holy inscriptions being burned at the VHP protest are false, why was Khan labelled the 'mastermind' of the violence by the police and the media? What do the FIRs allege? What action was taken following the FIR against VHP and Bajrang Dal protesters?A look at the FIRs filed in connection with the communal riots in Nagpur and the ongoing action against members of both communities.At least four fresh FIRs were filed by the cyber cell of Nagpur police on 20 March, taking the total number of FIRs filed over the riots to nine.One of the fresh FIRs filed on Thursday has Section 152 (endangering India’s sovereignty and spreading misinformation on social media) of BNS against Khan and others, sources said. The charge is similar to Section 124A (sedition) of the formerly used Indian Penal Code (IPC).While all four FIRs deal with social media posts over provoking people to join the mob on 17 March, it remains unclear how many other accused have been booked under Section 152.Advocate Syed Shuja representing the 51 people accused (barring Khan) in the first FIR told The Quint: "We are yet to receive the new FIRs. There will be more clarity after the court hearing on 21 March."The cyber cell scanned 300 social media accounts across five days, out of which 272 handles were found to have 'objectionable or provocative' content, sources said.'Chhaava' Effect? Nagpur Mayhem & Dangers of Mixing Myth With PropagandaIn the first FIR filed at Ganesh Peth police station at 11:36 am on 18 March, the morning after the riots, 51 individuals were named other than Fahim Shamim Khan, all from the Muslim community. In the complant registered by police officer Baburao Gadge also mentioned 500-600 unnamed individuals. The FIR states that Khan first "unlawfully gathered 50-60 people at Ganesh Peth police station to submit a written complaint against protesters of VHP and Bajrang Dal." Naming seven other people who accompanied Khan to the police station, the FIR alleged that despite asking them to maintain peace, they "conspired and assembled 500-600 people near the Shivaji statue with the intention of inciting communal violence between Hindus and Muslims."Khan and his associates have also been accused of calling for "attacking common citizens and destroying public property via social media," and "spreading rumours". The FIR alleged that people in the mob made statements like 'don't spare police and Hindus' and 'the police is involved in what happened'. The mob also allegedly abused policemen and spread rumours that 'Hindu policemen helped in burning the holy chadar."The FIR then details violence by the mob and attacks on police personnel in seven localities — Shivaji Statue Chowk, Bhaldarpura, Ganjipeth, Geetanjali Chowk, Chitnis Park, and Natik Chowk. The mob allegedly rampaged through residential colonies in these areas, set private and police vehicles ablaze, burned two cranes at an under-construction site of a flyover, and vandalised sign boards on shops and streets.Another disturbing allegation is that of the violation of a female officer of the Riot Control Police (RCP). The FIR alleged that the officer was touched inappropriately by people in the mob "taking advantage of the dark", while several other female officers were also verbally abused and physically assaulted.The accused in this FIR have been charged under 57 sections of seven penal codes — Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Public Property Act, (1984), Criminal Law Amendment Act (1932), Explosive Substances Act (1908), The Arms Act (1959), Maharashtra Police Act (1951), and Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act (1922). Some of the grievious sections invoked under BNS are:Section 109 (attempted murder)Sections 74, 76 and 79 (sections over outraging a woman's modesty)Section 191 (2) (rioting)Section 191(3) (rioting with deadly weapon)Section 196 (1) (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion)Section 197 (1) (inciting divisions among different religious groups)Section 353(2) (making or circulating false statements, rumors)The other sections penalise offences like criminal conspiracy, use of weapons, attacking public servants, wrongful restraint, unlawful assembly, obscene words, counterfeiting documents, mischief by fire, and criminal intimidation.Nagpur Riots: How Netas, Hindu Outfits Fueled Aurangzeb Narrative Post 'Chhaava'An FIR was filed at the Ganesh Peth police station on 17 March at 3:09 pm, hours before violence erupted, which named nine functionaries of the VHP and Bajrang Dal — Govind Shende, Dr Ramchandra Dubey Maharaj, Amol Thakre, Kamal Haryani, Lakhan Kuril, Sushil Chaurasiya, Rushabh Arkhel, Shubham Arkhel, and Mukesh Barapatre.Shende made the statement about 'Babri-like action on Aurangzeb tomb' which was widely criticised two days before the unrest.The FIR, based on a complaint by police constable Atish Nikode, alleged that the accused burned an effigy of Aurangzeb and violated prohibition orders by the police. The nine functionaries were booked under Section 223 of BNS (disobedience to orders duly promulgated by a public servant), Sections 37(1), 37(3), and 135 of Maharashtra Police Act 1951 (relating to prohibiting acts for the prevention of disorder).Eight of the nine functionaries surrendered to the police on 19 March, following which they were produced in the court and were immediately granted bail.Members of the Muslim community in Nagpur have questioned the police's alleged leniency on the functionaries, asking why they were not being booked under relevant Sections for burning a chadar with holy inscriptions.In a press conference on Thursday, members of a citizens' group called Nagpur Muslim Community condemned the violence and brought a green 'chadar' to suggest that the police and authorities are trying to protect the right-wing groups by calling it a 'rumour'."Very lenient charges have been invoked against them. They were let off in two hours. They should be booked for hurting religious sentiments," advocate Shuja alleged.Nagpur Riots: 33 Cops, 5 Civilians Injured as Protests Over Aurangzeb Tomb Flare

BECOME A MEMBER

Sedition, Violation of Female Cop, Fahim Khan's Role: What Nagpur Riot FIRs Say

A detailed look at the FIRs filed over Nagpur riots, 'mastermind' Fahim Khan's role, and why 'sedition' was invoked.

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from news and india

Topics: Hate Crimes Riots Nagpur