A joint team of Special Task Force and Saharanpur Police droppe the net on elsuive Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad alias 'Ravan', who was accused of orchestrating caste violence in Saharanpur recently. He was arrested from Subash Chowk area of Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh early Thursday morning.
An official communiqué said that the 30-year-old lawyer and head of the Dalit outfit and was on the lam for the last fortnight and was arrested from Dalhousie. Chandrashekhar is suspected to be the mastermind of caste-violence that broke out in west UP district of Saharanpur on May 9.
After his arrest, Chandrashekhar was being brought to Saharanpur on a transit remand. At least three cases of violence were lodged against him and others in connection with the Saharanpur violence that led to the death of three persons and several houses being torched at Sabbirpur village.
The UP Police had declared a reward of Rs 12,000 for information leading to the capture of Chandrashekhar and his two associates. Chandrashekhar had offered to surrender in the court, when he emerged at a massive rally in New Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
To protest alleged atrocities on Dalits, the Bhim Army had called for a Mahapanchayat in Saharanpur on May 9. Even as police denied permission for the gathering, invitations were already given out out on social media.
Hundreds of sympathisers made their way to the venue of the meeting when things went awary. Supporters of Bhim Army clashed with the police, after which Chandrashekhar was booked by the police.
Meanwhile to avert any fallout out of Chandrashekher’s arrest, Saharanpur district authorities beefed up security and snapping internet services in the district.
Confirming the arrest of Chandrashekhar, SSP Babloo Kumar said that security has been spruced up and additional forces deployed in Chutmalpur, the native village of Chandrashekhar and at Sabbirpur village, the centre of the violence.
Meanwhile, police failed to arrest Bhim Army honcho Nawab Satyapal Tanwar, even after the STF raided several places in Gurugram in Haryana on Wednesday.