Automobiles have been set on hearth, stones have been thrown at police personnel – who retaliated with a lathi cost and a volley of tear fuel shells – and the freeway between Tonk and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan was blocked Thursday afternoon after police arrested ex-Congress chief Naresh Meena.
The violence carried over from late final night time, when police tried to arrest Meena – an unbiased candidate within the Deoli-Uniara by-poll who was caught on digital camera assaulting a district official.
And what couldn’t be executed final night time – amid extra stone-pelting and arson – was managed this morning, after a “strategic” op by a big crew of senior cops and cops in full riot gear.
Meena confirmed to NDTV he had been picked up by the cops however then “deserted” after his supporters’ violent response. He even claimed to have acted heroically in saving some cops. “I didn’t run away… the police left me behind as a result of stone-pelting. In reality, I saved some policemen.”
#WATCH | Rajasthan by-poll unbiased candidate from Deoli-Uniara, Naresh Meena allegedly bodily assaulted SDM at a polling station in Samravata village
Automobiles vandalised and torched in Samravata village after the incident. pic.twitter.com/dv8jLnymh2
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 13, 2024
He claimed he spent the night time within the village “protected” by his supporters, who have been solely overcome after a heavy police power swung into motion on this morning. The eventual arrest within the afternoon was shortly earlier than he declared “I can’t give up” and instructed his followers to “encompass the police”.
READ | “Will not Give up”: Drama As Cops Arrest Naresh Meena In ‘Slap-Gate’
That decision was heeded. After his arrest cops and Meena’s supporters clashed on the Tonk-Sawai Madhopur freeway amid piles of burning straw, with the latter attacking even journalists.
Ajeet Shekhawat, a reporter for the Press Belief of India, was attacked and his digital camera and cell phone have been snatched and damaged. He was admitted to an area hospital for remedy.
#WATCH | Tonk, Rajasthan: Supporters of Naresh Meena set hearth on the state freeway outdoors Samravata village, to protest towards this arrest. pic.twitter.com/NU5lX2OP3I
— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024
A contemporary inflow of police was required to re-establish regulation and order. A prime cop instructed NDTV over 60 folks have been arrested thus far and “trouble-makers” are being recognized and detained.
All of this started Wednesday after Meena assaulted Sub-Divisional Justice of the Peace Amit Choudhary throughout polling for the Deori-Uniara by-poll; a widely-circulated video confirmed Meena grabbing Choudhary by the collar and smacking him twice earlier than being restrained by the cops.
VIDEO | Rajasthan Official Slapped By Unbiased Candidate Exterior Sales space
However the surprising incident angered state officers, who went on a ‘pen-down’ strike throughout the state that successfully introduced all authorities work to a standstill. Meena’s assault and the violence it triggered additionally provoked a political spat between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Get together and the Congress.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hit out on the BJP, claiming the celebration had inspired Meena to face as an unbiased candidate after he had been suspended by the Congress. Meena was suspended final week over a dispute concerning the celebration’s nominee – Kastur Chand Meena.
READ | Days Earlier than By-Ballot, Congress Suspends Insurgent Chief Naresh Meena
“How did he (Meena) have the braveness to do such a factor? This was not a minor incident. When there isn’t any worry amongst folks as a result of they take the regulation into their palms… that is the scenario within the state immediately,” he stated, alleging the BJP had backed Meena’s bid to separate its rival’s votes.
Nevertheless, BJP chief and Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirori Lal Meena hit again, claiming Meena had acquired that encouragement from inside the Congress.
Both approach, Meena’s arrest has opened a can of worms. On investigating his report, the cops have discovered 23 circumstances filed towards the previous Congress chief, of which solely seven have been accomplished. Most of those circumstances are about damaging public property and attacking authorities officers.
Two pertain to the extreme assault of a cop and a village chief in his residence district.
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