Saharanpur riot: Key accused held

Lucknow: Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar, the main accused in the Saharanpur caste violence, was nabbed from Himachal Pradesh on Thursday after having evaded arrest for nearly a month.

As the Bhim Army got active on the social media after the arrest, all Internet facilities in Saharanpur were blocked for two days to prevent mischief mongering.

Chandrashekhar, 30, who was carrying a reward of Rs 12,000 on his head, was arrested from Dalhousie area of Himachal Pradesh, Additional DG (Meerut Zone) Anand Kumar said. He will be brought to Saharanpur on a transit remand.

IG (Crime) Hariram Sharma told the media here that a total of 46 FIRs had been registered since inter-caste violence broke out in Saharanpur last month. As many as 206 arrests have been made so far, including that of Chandrashekhar, who has been named as accused in three FIRs, he said.

Earlier, two members of the Bhim Army were arrested in Saharanpur for their alleged involvement in the Ramnagar caste violence on May 9 after one person was killed and several others were injured in a clash between Dalits and Thakurs at Shabbirpur village on May 5.

About a dozen police vehicles were set ablaze and 12 policemen were injured in subsequent violence on May 9. The Uttar Pradesh Police had recently constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe 40 cases.