Mumbai: Social media influencer Hindustani Bhau, whose original name is Vikas Fhatak, has been arrested by the Dharavi Police in Mumbai on Tuesday in connection with the students' protest in Dharavi on Monday over their demand for online exams for classes 10 and 12 in the view of the pandemic.
An FIR is registered against Vikas Fhatak, also known as 'Hindustani Bhau' and others under multiple sections of IPC (including that for rioting), Maharashtra Police Act, Disaster Management Act and Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
Dharavi police arrested another accused, Iqrar Khan Vakhar Khan. FIR under IPC Sec 353, 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 427, 109, 114(Abettor present when offence committed), 143(unlawful assembly), 145, 146 (rioting), 149, 188, 269, 270.
Student protests erupted in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Osmanabad and a couple of other places in the state on Monday, demanding the cancellation of offline exams for Classes 10 and 12 in the current pandemic situation.
The agitation caught the Maharashtra government unawares as senior ministers, including School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and her deputy Bacchu Kadu learnt about it from television news channels.
Students reportedly hit the roads after viewing a video by one Vikas Fhatak aka Hindustani Bhau who raised concerns on the subject of offline exams for Classes 10 and 12.
Several hundred students protested near the residence of Gaikwad in Dharavi, Mumbai. The protest took place in Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi and police had to resort to a mild baton charge to stop them from moving towards the minister’s residence in the vicinity, an officer said. The students were holding placards and shouting slogans for the cancellation of board exams amid the pandemic scenario.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the state council Pravin Darekar criticised the police lathicharge on protesting students saying that the government needs to seriously look into the issues raised by them.
