Senior BJP Leader Anil Bonde Among 72 Arrested for Inciting Violence in Amravati
Maharashtra Police claims that Bonde and Praveen Pote, another BJP leader who is currently missing from Amravati, are responsible for the violence that broke out on Saturday.
The Amravati police on Monday arrested former Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Dr Anil Bonde along with a few other party members in connection with the violence over the weekend. The police are also on the lookout for another BJP leader Praveen Pote, who has been missing from Amravati.
A senior officer told The Indian Express that the latest arrests were in connection with the rioting that took place on Saturday in the Kotwali area of Amravati when BJP called a bandh. Around 6,000 of its party members and allied organisations like Bajrang Dal had taken to the streets to execute the bandh on Saturday. It led to two shops belonging to the minority communities being torched.
The bandh was called as a rebuttal to the march carried out by Muslim groups a day before in Amravati to protest against anti-minority violence in Tripura. During this protest, there was a stone thrown at the residence of Pote in which a window was shattered and a person sustained injuries
An official said that Bonde and Pote were some of the main people involved in calling for the bandh on Saturday.
So far, a total of 72 arrests have been made in 26 FIRs registered at four police stations in Amravati in connection with the violence on Friday and Saturday.
