Man arrested for 'insulting' saffron flags in Delhi

A person was arrested for allegedly insulting saffron flags placed along a street in northeast Delhi's Shastri Park area, police said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday around 9 pm, one Sagar (23), a resident of Shastri Park, came to the police station and reported that on the eve of Ram Navami, some small-sized, saffron-coloured religious flags were placed along an A Block street, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said.

Around 12.30 am, his neighbour Azim tore a few flags, trampled them and dumped them in a nearby drain, police said.

Someone filmed the entire incident which got viral on social media, they said.

A case under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered on Tuesday, police said.

Azim has been arrested and further investigation is on, police added.

Earlier on March 29, a young man was apprehended for allegedly insulting a saffron flag placed near a mosque in northeast Delhi's Jyoti Nagar.

An FIR was registered against Falz Alam (18) for disrespecting the flag near the mosque Moula Baksh situated at B-Block, Ashok Nagar, a video of which went viral on social media.