The Haryana Police on Wednesday booked former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s close aide Virender over an audio clip of his conversation in which he allegedly incited violence during the Jat quota agitation.
After the clip went viral two days back, Haryana’s BJP government had said it will thoroughly probe the matter.
An FIR has been registered in Rohtak against Mr. Virender under various sections of IPC including for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups and mischief, sources said.
When contacted, a senior police official confirmed the development, but said he cannot share the details immediately, saying these will be given later in the evening.
The sources said that the FIR against Mr. Virender has been registered on a complaint of Bhiwani resident Pankaj Kumar.
Mr. Virender, advisor to Mr. Hooda of the Congress, had earlier accepted that the voice in the clip was his but alleged the conversation has been “doctored”.
He had maintained that nowhere had he talked about instigating Jats or anyone. “Moreover, the conversation is an old one, much before the current unrest started,” he had said earlier.
The Congress had served a show cause notice to Mr. Virender, a PCC delegate, after the audio clip came to light.
Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala had said the clip makes it clear how “attempt” was being made to “instigate” the protesters “sitting peacefully”.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday sought action against those who were behind arson and violence during the 10-day Jat agitation which saw loss of life and property.
In a series of tweets, the Minister also advocated for action against those officials who allegedly failed in containing violence during the pro-quota stir.
“In BJP, there is no Jat and non-Jat. We don’t believe in caste ( jaat-paat ). We only want action against arsonists and those who hatched conspiracy to trigger arson,” he tweeted.
“We want action against those who failed to contain arson and violence,” he said in another tweet.
The Ambala MLA also sought compensation for those who suffered extensive damage to their property at the hands of the protesting mobs.
On February 22, 2016, Mr. Vij got upset after a Cabinet meeting, reportedly over the announcement of compensation of Rs. 10 lakh ex-gratia and government job to the next of kin of “innocent persons” killed in the agitation.
At one time he had even offered to resign but was calmed down by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who later called him to his residence to pacify him.
Mr. Khattar, who had to face a hostile crowd in Rohtak on Tuesday, also said the government would take action against those who burnt shops and commercial establishments.
The Chief Minister had also said the State government would give full compensation to those whose property was damaged.
Rohtak, the epicentre of the stir, saw massive damage to private property belonging to non-Jats.
The business community has alleged the mobs deliberately targeted shops owned by the non-Jats.
As per rough estimates, over 200 shops and commercial establishments in Rohtak were robbed and torched.
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