A student of a Tumakuru engineering college has been arrested over comments “prejudicial to national-integration”. However, the college is not sure whether the student actually shouted “Pakistan Ki Jai”.
The Tilak Nagar police in Tumakuru arrested Praveen Kumar Singh on August 16, after an FIR was lodged against him under Sections 153b (assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Section 153b attracts punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine, or both.
Praveen Kumar Singh is a 7th semester student at the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology. Home Minister G Parameshwara is a Joint Secretary of the Sri Siddhartha Education Society.
Tilak Nagar Inspector DL Raju told The News Minute that the security chief Muralidhara had filed the complaint, which was registered in the early hours of August 16.
According to the FIR, on the night of August 14, security personnel had gone up to the terrace to douse a fire lit by some of the students on the terrace of the Rajagraha Boys Hostel on the college campus. When they returned, some students who were inebriated were creating a ruckus, and security personnel told them to go to their hostel rooms.
“Praveen said that his father was in the army and that he would shoot them with his father’s gun. He also shouted Pakistan ki Jai, according to the security guard,” Raju said. The next day, security personnel informed Principal Dr. Veerayya of the events of the night, who then directed them to lodge a complaint. Raju said that Praveen’s father is in the Assam Rifles.
Dr. Veerayya said, “We have handed over the student to the police. He is in police custody.”
He said that three students had attended a party and that security personnel did not allow them into the hostel, and an argument ensued. “The security guard doesn’t know whether he heard Pakistan Zindabad or Pakistan Murdabad.”
Asked how the college could file a complaint when the guard himself was not sure of what he had heard, Dr. Veerayya had no answer.
He said that the college has informed Praveen’s family. “I think his brother is in Bengaluru. He is already here (in Tumakuru).”
Meanwhile, the ABVP had staged protests in front of the college on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they launched a rally to “create awareness about love for the country”, Tumakuru City Organizing Secretary Bheem Rai told The News Minute.
Initially, several media reports said that the student was booked for sedition. However, in the past three years, not a single case of sedition was registered in Bengaluru. This year alone saw two cases, one against Amnesty International India and one filed against V Shahishar, who was booked for instigating the police into protesting to demand better working conditions.