Meerut (UP), March 25 The Meerut Police has arrested three leaders of the AIMIM for allegedly making inflammatory speeches intended to disrupt communal harmony, officials said on Wednesday.
Mahtab Chauhan, the western Uttar Pradesh president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Imran Ansari, the metropolitan president, and Raji Siddiqui, the metropolitan secretary, were arrested following late-night raids, they said.
The action was taken after a video of an Eid Milan programme, held without prior permission at a farmhouse in Hajipur village on March 23, went viral.
In the video, Shaukat Ali, the state president of AIMIM, is purportedly seen making highly objectionable remarks while targeting a political party and discussing the 2027 assembly elections.
"You gave 111 seats to those who remain silent. Give me just 11 MLAs, and I promise that if a Muslim is killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh, those who are responsible for the encounter will also face an encounter," Ali allegedly stated in the clip.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (Meerut) Antriksh Jain said that the police had taken cognizance of the video and registered a case at the Lohiyanagar police station against six individuals, including Ali, and several unidentified others.
"The speeches were intended to create animosity between different religions and communities and to affect law and order," Jain said, adding that efforts are on to arrest the other accused.
Strict action will be taken against anyone found engaging in activities that disrupt social harmony and legal statutes, he said.
