Samajwadi Party Leader Who Made "Burn" UP Minister House Remark Arrested

Samajwadi Party leader Mukesh Siddharth, who recently made controversial remarks against Uttar Pradesh minister Somendra Tomar, has been arrested, police said on Monday.

Mukesh Siddharth was arrested late on Sunday night from Delhi for giving a call to "burn" minister Mr Tomar and his house, they said.

On Monday, Mukesh Siddharth was produced in a Meerut court which sent him to 14-day judicial custody, Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan told nws agency PTI.

A case was registered at Civil Lines police station here on Sunday against Siddharth under various IPC sections, including 143 (unlawful assembly) and 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot).

Meanwhile, while talking to reporters after coming out of the court, Siddharth reiterated his point and said, "I stand by my words. I will not take back my words even if 100 cases are filed against me." "I will continue to serve the Bahujan community, for this, I am ready to bear any oppression," Mukesh Siddharth, a former vice-chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, said.

During a protest at the Collectorate here on Saturday over alleged thrashing of Dalit councillors of opposition parties in a Meerut Municipal Corporation Board meeting, Siddharth had given a provocative statement against Minister of State for Energy Mr Tomar. A purported video of his statement made during the protest also went viral on social media.

In the video, the SP leader can be heard allegedly saying that "if Minister of State Somendra Tomar is not arrested by January 10, then his house should be burned, his car should be burned, he should be burned...".

Members of the BJP 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 member Dharmendra Bhardwaj was pushed and assaulted by the councillors of the opposition parties, after which the BJP councillors got enraged and attacked some opposition councillors.

SP councillor from Ward 31 Kuldeep alias Kirti Ghopla was allegedly beaten up during the clash. The opposition councillors also accused Mr Bhardwaj and minister Mr Tomar of beating up Dalit councillors.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary had met the Dalit councillors last week.

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