Nawada police arrested three youths for waving Palestinian flags. 

Nawada police arrested three youths for waving Palestinian flags. 

Patna July 15: Nawada police arrested three youths on the charge of waving the flags of Palestine during the Muharram procession in the city, an official said.

The accused waved the flags of Palestine during the Muharram procession in Dhamaul locality of Nawada city on Sunday at 7 pm. The police said that the alleged persons carried out a Muharram march without the permission of the district administration.

The police said that the three accused were arrested from Dhamaul locality on Monday. 

“Since it is a matter of great concern as they were waving flags of another country which was attributed to anti-national activities, we have immediately constituted a team headed by SDPO Pakribarawan to investigate the incident. During the investigation, it was confirmed that such incidents happened in Dhamaul locality,” said an official spokesperson of Nawada districts.

“A video of this incident went viral on social media. Based on the viral video, the police team identified the alleged youths. They raided several places for the entire night and managed to arrest them. The police team also seized the flags of other country as well,” he said.

“As per the law, the accused were produced in the district court on Monday,” he added.

A similar incident took place in Darbhanga on July 12 when a youth waved the flag of Palestine during the Muharrum procession. A video in this regard went viral on social media.

Munna Khan, head of Darbhanga district Muharrum Committee admits that a youth was seen waving the flag of Palestine in Kalighat locality.

 Based on the viral video, district SSP Jaggunath Reddy initiated an inquiry into the matter. He assured appropriate action against the accused. 

Past incidents of Palestinian Flags in Bihar during religious procession: However, these were not the only incidents that happened recently. On April 11 this year, During the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations, a group of people from the Muslim community waved the flags of Palestine in Bihar’s Nalanda district. That incident took place near Badi Dargah in the district headquarters of Biharsharif. A large number of people assembled there to offer Namaz (EID Prayer). Some individuals waved the Palestinian Flags. However, their motive was not clear for doing that.  

Family attacked during Muharrum March in Samastipur: In another incident, a family traveling in a car was under attack by the youths in Bihar’s Samastipur district on Sunday evening.

The youths were part of a Muharrum march and a car occupied by three persons reached there. The incident occurred at the Dalsinghsarai subdivision in the district.

Amitesh Kumar, a victim and a resident of Madhubani district, recounted, “We have stopped the car upon seeing a Muharrum march was going on the road. Some of the men carrying swords in their hands, attacked my car. They have broken the front and rear windshields of the car. It thought at one point that they might lynch us.” 

“My son who was sitting on the rear seat, sustained minor injuries in his hand,” he said. Adding that Kumar was on the way to Patna. 

Police action in Samastipur: The police said that five persons including two minor boys were arrested in this matter on Monday. 

“We have received a complaint about a person traveling with his family who was attacked by some men during the Muharram march in Dalsinghsarai. Based on the video evidence and identifications of Chokidar, we managed to arrest five persons on Monday. Two of them are minors. They have attacked the car with swords,” said Vivek Kumar Sharma, SDPO of Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur.

The district administration appealed to people to avoid spreading fake news on social media.

EOM.