French national, activist Darapuri among 7 held in Gorakhpur after protest seeking land for Dalits

Police said Jean was seen at the protest and had been arrested in a separate case under the Foreigners Act after it was found that he was in India on a business visa with an incorrect address.

Written by Asad Rehman

Lucknow, Darapuri was arrested in December 2019 during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.Darapuri was arrested in December 2019 during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.

Six activists, including 79-year-old retired IPS officer SR Darapuri, and a French national have been arrested in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh after allegedly taking part in a protest at the Commissioner’s office on Tuesday demanding one acre of land for landless Dalit families in the state.

Police said the activists had gathered at the Commissioner’s office despite CrPC section 144 being in place and indulged in vandalism and threatened officials present there.

The French national has been identified as Valentine Jean, in his thirties, a research scholar working on poverty in India.

Police said Jean was seen at the protest and had been arrested in a separate case under the Foreigners Act after it was found that he was in India on a business visa with an incorrect address.

“He had given an incorrect address in his visa application. He was arrested and sent to judicial custody. We are probing how he reached Gorakhpur, while his address was Dhanbad in Jharkhand. He was seen at the protest. Later, it was found that he was violating the Foreigners Act. Other arrested persons are Indian activists,” said Circle Officer (Cantt) Manush Pareek.

The arrested six activists have been identified as — retired IPS officer SR Darapuri (79), Shravan Kumar Nirala (50), Rishi Kapoor Anand (32), Jai Bheem Prakash (41), Neelam Baudh (38) and Ramu Siddharth (50).

In a Facebook post before his arrest, Darapuri said, “I had come yesterday (Tuesday) to attend a public meeting organised by Gorakhpur Ambedkar Jan Morcha on issues of Dalit and Civil Rights and the meeting concluded peacefully. This (Wednesday) morning, Gorakhpur police took me to the police station.”

Since his retirement in 2003, Darapuri has been working on rights issues. He was arrested in December 2019 during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow and was later released on bail.

In the FIR, other activists — Seema Gautam, Rajendra Prasad, Savita Baudh, Didi Nirdesh Singh, Ayub Ansari, Devi Ram and Sudhir Kumar Jha — and 10-15 unidentified people have been booked.

Inspector, Cantt, Randhir Mishra confirmed that the Tuesday protest was held, demanding one acre from the state government for landless Dalit families.

The protest was held under the banner of Ambedkar Jan Morcha and led by Shravan Kumar Nirala. Darapuri was invited as the chief guest at the protest.

The complaint, Rajesh Kumar Sharma posted at the Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner’s office, alleged that some people had set up tents at the Commissioner’s office on Tuesday morning despite section 144 being in place, and later, they indulged in vandalism.

SR Darapuri’s son Ved Prakash denied the allegations, and said, “The protest was peaceful. The outfit held the protest after getting verbal consent for it. The arrests are wrong. My father is almost 80 years of age and suffering from Parkinson’s disease and other age-related ailments. They should be released.”

“Several people and leaders in several vehicles entered the office forcefully. Then, they stole electricity from the office through a wire connected to their microphone and started a public meeting. Officials informed them that section 144 has been imposed in the district, and thus, a gathering of more than five people is prohibited. As my colleagues spoke with them, they got angry and started pushing us around and I fell on the ground. Then, they entered the office and abused everyone and tore official documents. They said they won’t let us go out, and threatened to kill us. They then broke pots with plants and reached the spot where the gathering was happening….” reads the police complaint.

A case has been registered under sections 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 342 (wrongful confinement), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, section 3 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and 138 of The Electricity Act.

Courtesy : TIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in theindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right