Dadhich on top of the water tank. (Express Photo)
A 26-year-old man climbed atop a water tank in Jaipur on Sunday, raising slogans, some of which were in favour of Shambhulal Regar, the man accused of murdering Muslim labourer Mohammed Afrazul. The man, identified as Anshul Dadhich, was later held and police claimed that he got on the tank because of “family problems”. Eyewitnesses said Dadhich, a resident of Brahmapuri area, got atop the tank in Kanwar Nagar locality in the afternoon.
“He was saying ‘release Shambhu Regar or I will commit suicide’… He also said ‘Bharat me rehna hai to vande mataram kehna hai (If you want to stay in India, say Vande Mataram)’,”said Aakash Rathore, a local resident who was present at the place. He added that Dadhich said he was protesting against “communal slogans” allegedly raised during a rally in Udaipur by the Muslim community to protest the killing of Afrazul in Rajsamand.
“Dadhich has a group called the Azad Hind Sena and also is at the forefront of organising events in memory of martyrs such as Bhagat Singh…,” said Ankit Mohan Soni, one of his neighbours. Locals said Dadhich is also a member of the Rashtriya Brahman Mahasabha.
Gajendra Pareek, Jaipur in-charge of the Rashtriya Brahman Mahasabha, said, “Yes, he is in-charge of our social media cell in Jaipur but he climbed atop the tank in his individual capacity as a Hindu and for Hindutva. We will convene a meeting to decide whether to support him.”
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The police had to reason with Dadhich for some time before he agreed to come down.
In videos circulated on social media, Dadhich and several groups of people are seen raising slogans such as “Jis Hindu ka khoon na khaule, khoon nahin wo paani hai (A Hindu whose blood doesn’t boil, what runs in his veins is water not blood).”
The police denied that the protest by Dadhich had anything to do with Regar. “He climbed on the tank because of some family problem. After he was brought down, we arrested him under section 151 CrPC (preventive custody),” said Rajendra Singh, SHO, Shubhash Chowk police station.
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