PANJIM: Panjim Police detained a youth for allegedly displaying a placard reading ‘Free Omar Khalid’ during celebrations marking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Azad Maidan on Saturday evening.
The youth, identified as Danish Mohammed, was stopped by police for holding the placard. The incident occurred towards the end of the celebrations when police questioned him about his identity before escorting him to the Panjim Police Station.
Soon after the celebrations concluded, Danish was speaking to media persons while wearing a face mask and holding the placard reading ‘Free Omar Khalid’. Panjim Pl Vijaykumar Chodankar stopped him and asked him to produce his identity card. Other activists came to Danish’s defence, demanding to know what offence he had committed. “Has Danish done anything wrong? Is displaying a poster and seeking the release of Omar Khalid a crime?” they asked.
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The police officer maintained his demand and took Danish to the police station after he alleged ly refused to produce his identity card. Following the deten tion, a section of the crowd marched to the Goa Police headquarters and raised slogans demanding his release, shouting “Release Danish”. “If he is not showing his ID proof, police can detain him”, Panjim PI Vijaykumar Chodankar said.
Meanwhile, a separate altercation broke out between members of the media and protesters after one of the protesters allegedly referred to journalists present at the venue as ‘Godi Media’. The verbal exchange escalated into a scuffle, following which another protester was also taken to the police station.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha members protested outside the police headquarters demanding that stringent action be taken against the accused. This also led to verbal clashes between BJYM members and Sudeep Dalvi, who was later detained by the police. BJYM president Tushar Kelkar said that the police should file non-bailable offences against the duo for supporting an “anti-national”. Umar Khalid was arrested in a case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
