Woman who fired at Mahatma effigy not part of outfit, claims Hindu mahasabha ‘member’; FIR lodged

“Rajeev Kumar alleged that Shakun had misused his organisation’s banner and she is not an ABHM member,” Station House Officer, Gandhi Nagar police station, Virendra Singh said adding that investigation into the case has begun. Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhary said Rajeev Kumar was a member of ABHM, whose president is Swami Chakrapani.

An FIR was lodged Wednesday at the Gandhi Nagar police station against Pooja and many other ABHM members after a video surfaced of them purportedly recreating the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and garlanding Nathuram Godse. The video shows Pooja purportedly shooting the late leader’s effigy with an air pistol on his death anniversary at their office in Aligarh. While, seven of them were arrested, six others, including Pooja Shakun and her husband and ABHM national spokesperson Ashok Pandey, are on the run, said Virendra Singh.

Speaking to The Sunday Express over phone, Ashok Pandey said, “We are members of ABHM, whose national president is Chandra Prakash Kaushik. We have nothing to do with the ABHM run by Swami Chakrapani. Police had wrongly lodged an FIR against Pooja on Rajeev Kumar’s complaint.”

Confirming Ashok’s claims, Chandra Prakash Kaushik said, “We would proceed for legal action against Rajeev Kumar Ashish for lodging a false complaint”.

However, Swami Chakrapani said, “I am the national president of ABHM and Rajeev Kumar is its state president. Pooja Shakun had wrongly used our banner. So we have filed a complaint lodged against her.”

About the recreation of Gandhi’s assassination, Ashok Pandey said there was nothing wrong in it as they did it inside his residence. “Police is unnecessarily harassing us. We have filed surrender application in the court.”

There are presently five organisations with the name Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in India.

Mukul Mishra, national joint secretary of one of such outfits, claimed, “Three ABHMs each headed by Chandra Prakash Kaushik, Pandit Nand Kishore Mishra and Vratadhar Ramanuj Jeeyar Swami Tridandiji got merged with our outfit in January 2017. So, there is no other ABHM organisation in the in the country.”

Chandra Prakash Kaushik, however, denied any such merger. Swami Chakrapani, too, claimed of running the “original” ABHM.