Jat agitation: ex-Haryana CM Hooda's aide arrested

Rohtak, March 17: Virender Singh, a close aide of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was booked for sedition and criminal conspiracy on charges of inciting violence during the Jat agitation, was today arrested, police said.

"We have arrested Virender Singh. He will be produced before court and we will be seeking his custodial interrogation," Rohtak Superintendent of Police Shashank Anand said.

Singh was political advisor to Hooda during his 10-year tenure as chief minister. He, however, claimed before reporters that he had voluntarily surrendered at the SP's office. "I am a law abiding citizen. I have not done anything wrong and the truth will come out," he said.

The arrest came after the Rohtak district court on Tuesday denied him anticipatory bail. Singh along with others was booked last month under various sections of the IPC, including sedition, after an audio clip surfaced in which he was purportedly heard talking to a Khap leader in order to allegedly incite violence during the Jat community's reservation stir.

PTI