Hindu Raksha Dal leader, 12 others held for AAP office attack

, Jan 8: Hours after the attack on Aam Aadmi Party's Kaushambi office here, Ghaziabad Police on Wednesday arrested the national convenor of Hindu Raksha Dal and 12 others in connection with the incident.

Hindu Raksha Dal national convenor Pinki Choudhary was arrested from Sahibabad area here and an FIR was lodged against him, along with 30-40 unknown persons, in connection with the attack. "We have registered an FIR against Pinky Choudhary and around 30-40 unknown persons for the attack on AAP's office," Deputy Superintendent of Police Ran Vijay Singh said.

"A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered," he said, adding that police have so far arrested 13 persons in this regard and more arrests would be made soon. "Police are scanning footage of CCTV cameras installed in the party's office to identify other accused, who would also be arrested soon," the DSP said.

National convenor of Hindu Raksha Dal and 12 others were arrested.

Earlier in the day, activists of Hindu Raksha Dal attacked Aam Aadmi Party's Kaushambi office to protest against AAP leader Prashant Bhushan's remarks on referendum in Kashmir.

Around 40 activists of Hindu Raksha Dal broke flower pots kept outside the AAP's office and tore party posters. Some glass doors were also smashed in the attack. "We are against AAP's leader Prashant Bhusan's remarks on Kashmir. The attack was also instigated by Kejriwal's remarks on Batla encounter," Choudhary told reporters here after his arrest.

Bhushan had recently said a referendum should be carried out in Kashmir to decide on deployment of the army to deal with security threats in the Valley.

Choudhary alleged that another AAP leader had made remarks against Hindu Gods which was not acceptable to them. Meanwhile, around 35 activists of the outfit protested outside Indirapuram police station against their leader's arrest this evening, prompting police to lathicharge them to disperse them.

PTI