Chandrashekhar Azad has become one of the most prominent faces of anti-CAA protests in the country.
Highlights
- Chandrashekhar Azad claimed his supporters were thrashed by cops
- "I will be back soon," he tweeted in Hindi this morning
- He was detained ahead of a planned protest against citizenship law
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who was detained in Hyderabad last evening ahead of a planned protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, reached Delhi this afternoon. In an early morning tweet, he had claimed that his supporters were thrashed by policemen on Sunday before he was detained.
"Dictatorship is at its peak in Telangana.... First, our people were thrashed with sticks and then I was arrested. Now, they have been brought me Hyderabad airport, they are sending me to Delhi," he tweeted in Hindi. Tagging Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's office, he further wrote: "Bahujan Samaj will never forget this humiliation... I will be back soon."
Chandrashekhar Azad and a few supporters were on their way to the Crystal Garden in Hyderabad's Mehdipatnam on Sunday evening to address a protest rally when they were taken into custody.
The 33-year-old leader was "detained under Section 151 because permission was not granted for the public protest," Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told NDTV. This particular provision of the Indian Penal Code allows police to detain or arrest anybody who is likely to "disturb public peace".
He had sent out a Twitter alert regarding his detention 15 minutes before reports finally emerged on news agency platforms. "Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has been detained by the Hyderabad police," the tweet read.
Chandrashekhar Azad's detention comes barely 10 days after his release on bail from Tihar Jail on January 16. He was arrested on charges of inciting a crowd to take up an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest in Delhi's Daryaganj area last month.
In the last few weeks, Bhim Army Chief has become one of the most prominent faces of massive anti-CAA protests across the country. He has not toned down his attacks on the controversial law, even after his release from prison, subject to certain conditions.
The CAA provides for citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they fled religious persecution and entered India before 2015. Critics believe the law, along with the National Register of Citizens, will be used to target Muslims.