New Delhi: Supreme Court on Thursady, February 20 granted bail to the jailed Congress lawmaker from Bhilai, Devendra Yadav who was apprehended by the police in connection with Balodabazar violence case in August last year. Yadav’s bail petitions were earlier rejected by both lower court and the high court.
Following the relief provided by the apex court, the incumbent Congress MLA is expected to be released from jail on Friday evening after lodging in jail for around seven months. Yadav was arrested by police from his Bhilai’s residence following a marathon exercise amidst strong protest from the Congress workers.
The Balodabazar arson and rioting case grabbed national attention after a protest called by the Satnami community in Balodabazar town turned violent, leading to arson and vandalism in June last year.
The police after the rioting episode, launched a major manhunt to arrest the perpetrators of violence, nabbing over 170 individuals in connection with the case. The authorities also sent notices to the Congress MLA Devendra Yadav before arresting him eventually in August last year.
Yadav’s detention however sparked a protest from the workers of the Congress party who gathered near the police station in support of the arrested lawmaker and resorted to sloganeering against the administration.
The development also triggered a tug of war between the leaders of the Congress party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) where while the former accuses the BJP for doing vendetta politics, the BJP leaders on the other hand claimed that the violent episode at balodabazar was aimed at destabilising the government and the law will take its own course in the case.
A two time MLA from the Bhilai state assembly constituency, Devendra Yadav became an MLA from Bhilai Nagar constituency in 2018 after defeating BJP’s heavy weight Prem Prakash Pandey. Yadav is considered close to the Congress top brass.
Yadav was also named in multi-crore coal levy scam which allegedly flourished in the state during the previous regime of Congress party and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also questioned him in connection with the case. The Congress heavy weight however has denied the allegations against him.
Balodabazar rioting incident
Notably, an agitated mob of protestors on June 10 last year set ablaze several government offices alongside damaging hundreds of vehicles at joint collector’s office premises at Balodabazar town.
The protest was called over vandalism of the ‘Jaitkham’, a sacred symbol associated with the Satnami community near Amar Gufa in Mahkoni village of Giroudpuri.
At the outset, the protestors assembled at the Dussehra ground for a peaceful demonstration and to submit a memorandum to the collector against the Gorodpuri incident. However the protest escalated dramatically and went out of control, resulting in severe damage to government offices and private properties.
A total of 240 vehicles were reported to be damaged during the violence. This includes 31 private and government four wheelers and 60 two wheelers which were completely charred in the arson incident. Additionally, a total of 27 four wheelers and 122 two wheelers were also damaged partially into the violent act.
In aftermath of the violence, the police launched a major crackdown on the rioters, arresting key accused Kailash Navrange, the state president of Bhim Krantiveer along Gopi Bande, and Sandeep Kosle both office bearers of the outfit namely Bhim Krantiveer Chhatra Sangh. The other key accused arrested in the case inluded Rajkumar Jangde, state president of Bhim Army and a National Student Union of India (NSUI) member, Suryakant Verma.
Later the police also nabbed Mohan Banjare, a government teacher and alleged prime conspirator of the violence at Balodabazar. Two other key accused namely Dinesh Chauturvedi and Hemant Banjare surrendered before the court amid mounting pressure of the police.
