Punjab Police arrest Sudhir Suri from Indore over 'objectionable' video

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 12

Punjab Police on Sunday arrested Shiv Sena (Taksali) president Sudhir Suri over the viral video clip denigrating women and inciting enmity between different groups, after a nearly 1300 km chase that ended in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

Two Punjab Police teams, comprising 11 personnel of Amritsar (Rural) district, nabbed Suri on Sunday morning, said DGP Dinkar Gupta.

Gupta added that a manhunt had been launched after the release of a video where Suri allegedly made derogatory remarks against women. He had followed it by a Facebook video in which he had claimed that the objectionable video clip was a voiceover by some other person using his name.

The DGP revealed that on July 8, after the first video went viral and was heavily criticised in India and abroad, Jandiala Police, Amritsar (Rural) had booked Suri in criminal case FIR no. 208 u/s 153-a, 354A, 509 IPC and 67 IT Act. Despite Suri’s denial of any involvement in the said objectionable video clip that had appeared in the social media, the DGP said he had ordered a massive manhunt against the suspect through Amritsar (Rural) Police.

Gupta said he had also directed the Punjab Bureau of Investigation to get the clip examined though the Forensic Science Laboratory at the earliest. Subsequent investigations revealed that fearing arrest, Suri could have fled to Indore, said the DGP, disclosing that the operation was successfully conducted in coordination with the Madhya Pradesh Police.

The DGP said he spoke to Vivek Johri, his counterpart in Madhya Pradesh, at the time of the dispatch of the two police teams to Indore. The teams, consisting of  DSP Harish Behl (Crimes against women), 2 SIs, 3 ASIs and 5 constables, were dispatched for arresting Suri.

Punjab Police is now moving for bail cancellation requests before the concerned Judicial courts in cases where Suri has already been bailed out earlier.

The DGP asserted a zero-tolerance policy against any individuals or organisations trying to incite communal hatred and fan communal passions through their speeches, statements, writings, posts on social media platforms etc. He further said the Punjab Police was “highly sensitive towards dignity, safety and security of women and would take strict action, as per law, against anyone showing women in a bad light.”