Case filed for alleged bid to topple Raj govt

JAIPUR: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police registered on Friday a case of sedition and conspiracy against unknown people on charges of attempting to topple the Congress-led state government.

Additional Director of Police (SOG), Ashok Kumar Rathore, said a case was registered after substantial facts surfaced during a call interception of two phone numbers.

He said two numbers belonged to “anti-social elements” who were being kept on surveillance. “The conversation on those numbers indicated that the two people [whose names have not been disclosed to media] and some others could be involved in trying to poach (the Congress and independent) MLAS,” he said.

He added that both mobile phone numbers were registered in Rajasthan.

Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19, Congress leaders had alleged that attempts were being made to lure its MLAS and that they were being offered ~25 crore, including ~10 crore as advance payment. The Bharatiya Janata Party called these charges baseless.

Rathore clarified that the FIR was not on the complaint given by chief whip Mahesh Joshi on June 11, in which he had alleged that attempts were being made to topple the government before the Rajya Sabha polls and that money was being offered to MLAS. “That is being probed separately,” Rathore added. The Congress initially lodged a complaint with the anti-corruption bureau and later gave it to the SOG.