Minister’s son to file for anticipatory bail

PATNA: Arijit Shashwat, son of Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, said on Monday that he would move an anticipatory bail application against a warrant issued for his arrest by the Bhagalpur police in connection with the communal clashes in Nathnagar on March 17.

On the other hand, Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar said that a two-member team of cops has been “carrying out intensive searches over the past 24 hours” in Patna to nab Arijit. The warrant against Shashwat was issued by a court in Bhagalpur on Saturday.

Shashwat and eight others were booked by the Nathnagar police in Bhagalpur district following disturbances in Medini Chowk, a Muslim-dominated area, during a procession by workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bajrang Dal on March 17.

Shashwat, while speaking to reports in Patna, refused to surrender, saying he was “in court’s shelter” and had full faith in the judiciary. “Why should I surrender? I am in court’s shelter and do whatever the court decides. I have complete faith in the Indian judiciary. I am not an absconder,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, hit out at chief minister Nitish Kumar and questioned why Shashwat was still free despite having a warrant against his name.

Yadav claimed Shashwat had participated in a Ram Navami procession in the state capital on Sunday, a day after the warrant was issued.

“Nitish (Kumar’s) govt has issued an arrest warrant against him (Shashwat) for inciting riots in Bhagalpur but today (Monday) he took out another procession on the occasion of Ram Navami armed with a sword accompanied by BJP MLAS,” read a post on Yadav’s Twitter handle.