Haryana police Wednesday booked Prof Virender, ex-political advisor to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on charges of sedition. This comes after a 90-second audio clip of a purported conversation between Virender and a Khap leader, allegedly to incite violence, went viral on social media. Virender had owned up the phone call but said “it was tampered with”. The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint lodged by Captain (retd) Pawan Anchal, a resident of Bhiwani. Besides charges of sedition, offences of criminal conspiracy and damaging public property have also been included. Captain Anchal, in his complaint, said “since there is strong prima facie evidence against Prof Virender in hatching this seditious and unlawful agitation, hence you are requested to register a case in this seditious matter and investigate the matter to punish the accused as per law”. “A case be registered against Prof Virender and others for abetting, hatching criminal conspiracy of seditious activities leading to large-scale destruction, arson, looting of and vandalising public and private property and loss of many innocent lives,” the FIR states. Captain Anchal also named Hooda in his complaint and alleged that the agitation was led by his supporters. “These protests were being run and organised mostly by near and dear ones and close party leaders and workers of Mr Hooda,” the complaint said. Haryana’s Cabinet Minister Anil Vij said, “An FIR has been lodged against Prof Virender. He has already admitted that it is his voice in the clip. But it cannot be of so much concern for a political advisor that this agitation spread to each corner of this state. What could be his interest? He might have been working on behalf of somebody or some organisation, which wanted to obtain political mileage out of this.” In the clip, Virender is heard praising Khap leader Kaptan Mann for the Rohtak violence and telling him to ask Indian National Students’ Organisation and INLD to turn up the heat in home turf Sirsa.
