Kawal clashes: Ex-block pramukh arrested for hate speech

Crime branch today arrested ex-Jansath block pramukh, Virender Singh, for an alleged provocative speech made by him at a meeting in the district's Naglabadhod area on Aug. 31.

Singh is a cousin of Shashank Shekhar Singh, who was the former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary in the previous Mayawati government in the state.

According to DSP JR Joshi, the ex-pramukh was arrested for allegedly participating in an "unauthorised meeting" while prohibitory orders were in force in the area which has recently witnessed communal tensions.

The meeting in question had followed the incident of violence in the Kawal area here on Aug. 27, in which three persons were killed.
 

Police have already booked cases against several persons in connection with the violence.