VHP protests against Togadia's 'arrest' in Ahmedabad

A group of around 50 VHP workers on Monday created a ruckus at a police station in Ahmedabad, alleging that the police, in connivance with their Rajasthan counterparts, have arrested their President Pravin Togadia in connection with a 10-year-old murder case.

Alleging that the Sola police helped the Rajasthan Police arrest the VHP's international acting president from the Paldi area-located headquarters in Ahmedabad, the workers created a ruckus at the Sola Police Station there.

"We are pretty sure that the Rajasthan Police has arrested our leader Pravin Togadia at 10:30-11:00 in the morning. They were in the state searching for Togadia in connection with the case of a 10-year-old's murder in Rajasthan.

"We demand that the Gujarat Police give us his (Togadia's) whereabouts, if he has not been arrested, as they are claiming." said Raju Patel, Ahmedabad city VHP General Secretary.

"We fear that Togadia might be killed by the police in a fake encounter. The way Pravin Togadia has been voicing against the government's attitude towards many issues... towards their poll promises and regarding Ram Mandir, many in the government do not like it and they would want to silence him," said Gandhinagar VHP General Secretary.

The angry VHP workers also tried to block traffic on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway, a busy road in western Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, the police in Ahmedabad maintained that although the Rajasthan Police was present in the city in the morning looking for him, they left the city without making any arrest.

"The Rajasthan Police had a search warrant for Pravin Togadia, but no arrests were made and they returned to Rajasthan without making any arrest. If the VHP workers are alleging that Togadia is missing then we will look into that matter," said Sola Police Station Inspector G.S. Patel.

--IANS

amc/nir