Police book 60 Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal members for firing in the open near Agra fort
They also allegedly shouted slogans against other communities and sought a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Agra Police registered a First Information Report against 60 members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal for engaging in “celebratory firing” as part of Dussehra festivities on Saturday, the Hindustan Times reported.
Twenty-nine people were named in the report, as the rest are still being identified, the police said. The incident took place at a temple near the Agra Fort, a popular tourist attraction. The groups, which had guns, pistols and swords, allegedly also shouted slogans against other communities and sought a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“The way the firing was done in the open, at a venue so close to a tourist spot, Agra Fort, makes the matter serious and calls for action,” Agra Superintendent of Police Kunwar Anupam Singh told the Hindustan Times. Those responsible for making inflammatory religious remarks and firing in the open will be identified based on photographs and videos, he added. Singh said that gun licences of those who are found to have broken the law would be cancelled.
However, local VHP leader Sunil Parashar defended the group’s actions and said, “The firing was within the temple complex and not at any public place.” The “shastra pujan”, a ritual performed during Vijay Dashami, was also held at the Hanuman Temple, located far away from the Agra Fort, he said. “So there was nothing objectionable.”