BJP candidate Sahu sent to judicial custody

2009 General Election will be recalled again and again perhaps for spilling out of the hate and inflammatory speeches, and making derogatory remarks by poll candidates against any communities and political opponents. First, it was BJP’s political novice Varun Gandhi, then RJD leader Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and now another BJP candidate Ashok Sahu.

The retired IAS officer Ashok Sahu is the BJP candidate from Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat who was arrested for allegedly making hate speeches during election campaign earlier this month, and later sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Tuesday.

Sahu had made provocative speech on April 5 accusing Congress Rajya Sabha MP Radhakant Naik, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath and missionaries of plotting the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati; and held the Church responsible for insurgency in the Northeast and Naxal violence in Jharkhand and Kandhamal. On April 9, an FIR was registered against him.

Police booked cases against Sahu under Section 125 of the Representation of People’s Act and Section 153 (A) of the IPC. Later two more sections, 505 and 295 (A) were added on the direction of the Election Commission.

Sahu who had been eluding the police for few days finally caught by the Orissa police in the presence of Collector Kishan Kumar and SP Praveen Kumar yesterday while participating in a motorcycle rally at Phulbani in Kandhamal.

He was produced before the Baliguda court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate who rejected his bail plea and remanded to14-day judicial custody.

Kandhamal LS constituency is going to polls in the first phase on April 16 along with other nine parliamentary seats.

Earlier on Monday, Election Commission, who had issued notices to Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, and Uddhav Thackeray for provocative speeches thus violating Model Code of Conduct, had let them off after making critical criticism.