Sedition case: Innocent people have been arrested, alleges SDPI

Mangaluru: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) alleged that police had arrested innocent people on the charges of raising pro-Pakistan slogans during the gram panchayat vote counting process at Ujire in Dakshina Kannada district on December 30.

SDPI state secretary Ashraf Machar told reporters here that three-party workers had been arrested at midnight without any evidence and accused of raising pro-Pakistan slogans.

He claimed that the SDPI members were raising pro-party slogans and not in favour of Pakistan.

“Only leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits always speak about Pakistan,” he said.

A video showing a group of people carrying flags of the Muslim outfit and raising the slogans had gone viral on social media, following which police registered a sedition case against 15 SDPI activists.

Machar alleged that some people with a communal mindset, with the help of a private channel, had doctored the video.

Over 5,700 village panchayats in Karnataka went to the polls in two phases on December 22 and 27.