Agra: The absconding suspect Vishal Thakkur involved with the Kasganj violence and prime suspect who gave the rally call to ‘Tiranga Yatra’ was arrested on Tuesday evening while he was assaulting a Muslim boy playing cricket with Hindu boys.
Thakkur who was on the run since 26 January was caught in the middle of assaulting a Muslim boy for “playing cricket with local Hindu boys”.
Thakur approached the boy along with his group who were all arrested for assaulting the Muslim boy.
Thakur’s associate Chandan Gupta both were seen in the forefront in the tiff with Muslim group. Thakur had also posted a 44-second video on Facebook on 24 January asking youths to join the rally two days ahead of the Tiranga yatra. Gupta was eventually killed later in the Kasganj violence.
According to police reports, 9 out of 11 persons arrested for assaulting the Muslim boy playing cricket were involved in Kasganj violence that broke out on 26 January.
Kasganj SP and now DIG Piyush Srivastava, said, “The youths were caught assaulting a Muslim youth during a cricket match. Vishal Thakur and his men, who were absconding since January 26, were infuriated to see the youths of both communities playing together. They entered the cricket ground and attacked the boy.”
While a source reported Thakkur has good connections with local BJP leaders. “One can still see pictures on Thakur’s Facebook page, in which he is standing beside senior BJP leaders and even MLAs.”