SP leader booked over call to 'burn' UP minister, his house

The police in Meerut have booked a Samajwadi Party leader here for giving a call to "burn" an Uttar Pradesh minister and his house, a police official said on Sunday.

His threat followed a recent clash where the SP leader said Dalit corporators from Opposition parties were allegedly thrashed in a board meeting of the Meerut Municipal Corporation.

A video had surfaced on social media which purportedly showed SP leader Mukesh Siddharth making the controversial statement.

"If minister of state Somendra Tomar is not arrested by January 10, then his house should be burnt, his car should be burnt, he should be burnt and the city should be burnt," the SP leader reportedly said.

"This is just a spark, when it becomes a volcano, the government will also come to know," he further said.

Siddharth, former vice-chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission, reportedly made the statement while talking to journalists during a protest at the collectorate in Meerut on Saturday.

SP (City) Ayush Vikram Singh told PTI on Sunday that a case has been registered against under various sections, including 143 (unlawful assembly), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

According to the Superintendent of Police, Siddharth is absconding and efforts are being made to arrest him.

Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition parties had come to blows during a Meerut Municipal Corporation Board meeting on December 30.

BJP and opposition leaders accused each other of starting the clash and filed complaints against each other.

It is alleged that during the meeting, BJP's Legislative Council Member Dharmendra Bhardwaj was pushed and assaulted by the councillors of the Opposition parties, after which the BJP councillors got enraged and attacked the BSP councillor from ward 36.

Ashish Chaudhary and SP councillor from Ward 31 Kuldeep alias Kirti Ghopla were allegedly beaten up in the during the clash.

The Opposition councillors also accused, besides Bhardwaj, minister of state for energy Somendra Tomar of beating up Dalit councillors.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary met the Dalit councillors in Zahidpur on Monday.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai and Azad Samaj Party national president Chandrashekhar Azad had also visited the Dalit councillors.