A local Mumbai court on Tuesday sent YouTuber Vikas Phatak aka Hindustani Bhau to police custody till February 4 along with one Ikrar Khan.
Phatak was arrested for airing a video which allegedly instigated students to take to the roads on Monday demanding cancellation of offline exams for classes 10 and 12.
An FIR was registered against Phatak and others under IPC sections 353 (obstructing public servant from discharging duty), 332 (causing hurt to public servant), 427 (mischief causing damage), 109 (abetment) and 114 (abettor present when offence committed), 143, 145, 146, 149 for unlawful assembly and rioting and 188, 269, 270 for violating COVID-19 guidelines.
They have also been booked under section 3 (mischief causing damage) of prevention of damage to public property act, 1984.
Phatak and Khan were arrested on Tuesday morning and were later produced in the magistrate court in Bandra. The Public Prosecutor Prasad Joshi on behalf of Police argued that Phatak is a habitual offender and it wasn’t possible for hundreds of students to come out on street on their own.
He said that the police wanted to probe whether an organisation was behind the incident.
‘Part of conspiracy’
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil too had said, “This seem to be created deliberately as part of a conspiracy. We will thoroughly investigate this incident.”
Hundreds of students hit the street in Mumbai and several other parts of Maharashtra demanding cancellation of offline exams of Classes 10 and 12 in the State.
