RSS office vandalised; police round up suspects
RAE BARELI/LUCKNOW: The office of the RSS in Rae Bareli was vandalised on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The police have rounded up some suspects, sources said. Miscreants even set the kitchen at the Sangh office afire, besides damaging furniture.
RAE BARELI/LUCKNOW : The office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Rae Bareli was vandalised on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The Yogi Adityanath government could order a high-level probe into the attack.
The attack on the RSS office has come a few days before Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat is to arrive in Uttar Pradesh for an RSS camp in Mathura. The police have rounded up some suspects, sources said. Miscreants even set the kitchen at the Sangh office afire, besides damaging furniture.
“We are looking into all possible angles,” said Shiv Hari Meena, the superintendent of police, Rae Bareli, admitting so far there weren’t any ready explanations for the attack.
A team of forensic experts has begun investigation into the incident that came to light after the locals called the police.
UP’s rural development minister Mahendra Singh, considered close to the RSS, rushed to Rae Bareli and directed the police to expedite the probe. “As of now, it’s difficult to say anything but whosoever has done it won’t be spared,” Singh said, adding a “high- level probe will be ordered”.
After taking stock of the damage, a police team, led by city circle officer Sheshmani Upadhyay, city magistrate Alok Kumar and inspector kotwali Ashok Kumar Tripathi raided the Gandhi dharmshala situated alongside the RSS office. They took about a dozen people, staying there without any ID, for questioning. Later, they released eight people. The remaining four are still in police custody for interrogation.
Some people from west UP were among those interrogated, sources said. The police officials and district administration officers were tight-lipped on the issue. Calls to their mobile phones went unanswered.
The RSS office bearers in Lucknow and Rae Bareli told HT said that if the attack was intended to terrorise them, it had failed in the objective. “It’s clear that the attack was deliberate. But whosoever attacked our office probably isn’t aware of the Sangh’s ideology and resolve,” a senior Sangh official said.