Vishnu Gupta was arrested under Section 107/151 of CrPC and may also be charged under Section 182 of the IPC.
Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta was arrested Wednesday, two days after a PCR call by him alleging that beef was being served in the restaurant at Kerala House prompted police to visit the state guest house to ‘inquire’ into the matter.
The visit, termed as a raid by the AAP government in Delhi and the Kerala government, among others, triggered a political controversy. In a related development, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi submitted a report on the incident to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He did not share details.
“Gupta has been arrested under Section 107/151 of CrPC. He was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a medical examination before his arrest. We will produce him in the special executive magistrate court,” said DCP, New Delhi, Jatin Narwal.
Initially, officers from the Connaught Place police station tried to approach Kerala House officials, especially the resident commissioner. However, after Kerala House officials filed no complaints with the police over the incident, Delhi Police discussed the matter with their legal advisors, said sources. “On Wednesday morning, three separate teams started tracking Gupta by using his cell phone location. He was detained from Janak Puri area,” said sources.
Gupta was detained at about 11:00 hrs and taken to Connaught Place police station, where he was questioned over the alleged false complaint. “He was arrested at about 16:30 hrs,” said the police. The resident commissioner of Kerala House and senior officers of Delhi Police remained available for comment.
On Tuesday, Bassi had said police were contemplating action against Gupta under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person). He had said the PCR call was given priority because “it had the potential to disrupt harmony between communities and could have had disastrous consequences, especially because of the past record of Gupta, national president of Hindu Sena”.
Bassi had added, “The caller had already come to the police’s notice because of his past record.”