UP man announces bounty on head of Cong MLA’s nephew, arrested

The police here were put on alert as news spread that a man had announced a bounty of Rs 51 lakh on the head of P Naveen, the nephew of Congress MLA, who had posted a cartoon that was allegedly derogatory and hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community.

According to police sources here, the bounty was announced by Shahazeb Rizvi, a resident of Rasoolpur village in Phalwada town of Meerut. He is reportedly a social worker and former leader of the Samajwadi Party. He was subsequently arrested and booked under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between religious groups) and 505 (2) (intent to incite one community against the other) of the Indian Penal Code.

Rizv had circulated a video on WhatsApp announcing the bounty. “The sentiments of the Muslim community have been hurt due to the social media post of Congress MLA’s nephew. Whoever will get me the head of his nephew, will get Rs 51 lakh in return. The money will be collected with the help of the people who support me in the cause,” Rizvi can be heard saying in the video which was reported by the Times of India.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has written to the Meerut police that the sections invoked against Rizvi were weak and has demanded that he be booked under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 also

Navin is a Dalit and nephew of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. His FB post resulted in riots in DJ Halli and KG Halli here resulting in three deaths in police firing. Many were injured even as rioters burnt down two police stations and torched scores of vehicles.

The Bengaluru police have so far arrested 206 people in connection with the riot, including the husband of BBMP corporator from Nagawara, Kaleem Pasha.