By Akanksha Kumar
Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): Days after securing bail in an unsubstantiated case against them for having a non-vegetarian iftar meal in a forested area about three kilometres from a Hindu ashram, eight Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district found themselves re-arrested following political intervention — despite no clear evidence of wrongdoing and questionable legal grounds underpinning the charges.
On March 24, four days after the first arrest followed by bail of four Muslim men for allegedly cooking and eating a non-vegetarian meal near the Sonpathri Ashram, local BJP Yuva Morcha president Hariom Tiwari wrote a letter to the superintendent of police.
“Prima facie this incident seems like a planned conspiracy,” Tiwari claimed in the letter.
The letter, a copy of which was seen by The Wire, further alleged, “There is also an apprehension that this incident may be related to assessing the security arrangements of the sensitive border area or could be linked to some form of espionage activity.”
On March 24 morning, Tiwari along with a group of supporters had first met Shravasti’s district magistrate, Ashwini Kumar Pandey, which was followed by another interaction with the superintendent of police, Rahul Bhati.
“I was assured that strict action will be taken,” Tiwari told The Wire while talking about his meetings with the officials. Tiwari had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2010 and has been the district-level Yuva Morcha president since 2021.
“I had gone to the SP’s office at 10 am and as per my information arrests took place between 1-2 pm,” said Tiwari.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.