Badaun (UP), Mar 5 : The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday expelled a youth wing leader who had offered Rs 5 lakh for cutting off the tongue of JNU Students Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar.
Kuldeep Varshnay, the district president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, has been expelled from primary membership of the party for six years, BJP district unit chief Harish Shakya said.
”Varshnay’s statement is his personal one and the party has nothing to do with it...he has been expelled from the primary membership of the party for giving such a statement without the consent of party office-bearers,” Shakya said.
Shakya stated that a notice to remove Varshnay from the post had been issued six months ago, and Ankit Maurya was made working president in his place.
Varshnay had on Friday announced Rs 5 lakh as prize money for anyone who cuts off the tongue of Kanhaiya Kumar, the Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader now out on bail in a case of sedition.
Varshnay alleged that Kanhaiya has been speaking against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever since he was released on bail.
Kanhaiya, who was arrested on February 12 on sedition charges, was released from the Tihar jail on March 3 after the Delhi High Court granted him interim bail for six months.
Shoot Kanhaiya Kumar, get a reward of Rs 11 lakh: Posters in Delhi
Posters offering a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who shoots dead JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was released on bail two days ago, have surfaced in the national capital.
The small posters bear the name of the Purvanchal Sena, an organisation which claims to work for the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and its president Adarsh Sharma and were seen at various places in New Delhi.
“Whoever shoots JNUSU president and traitor Kanhaiya Kumar will be rewarded Rs 11 lakh from the Purvanchal Sena,” the posters in Hindi read.
Sharma said on Saturday that they do have faith in the judiciary but want to deliver ‘quick’ justice.
“We want the traitor dead. He has insulted mother India and raised anti-national slogans. We have faith in the court but it takes a long time for a judgement to come. We want to ensure there is a quick decision and hence, we have announced this prize money of Rs 11 lakh to be given to whosoever kills him,” he told HT.
Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union president, was arrested on February 12 for allegedly raising anti-national slogans inside the campus during an event to mark the third anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging on February 9.
Sharma said they have put up posters in the national capital to announce their decision.
“He is a traitor and this is what should be done to him,” he added.
“We work for the people of UP and Bihar. Kanhaiya’s house is just 10 km away from my home in Bihar. Our land does not produce such anti-nationals. This is why I have decided to do this,” he said.
Police officers said they have taken note of it and initiated an inquiry into the matter.
“Action will be taken against persons who have put up such posters that incite violence. A case will soon be registered. We are looking into the matter,” a senior police officer said.
Delhi Police have also asked university officials to inform them about Kumar’s movements outside the campus.
In a letter to JNU authorities, DCP (south) Prem Nath wrote that the SHO of Vasant Kunj (North) police station should be informed well in time about “the movements and visits of Kumar outside the campus, including nature of visit and travel mode, so that necessary security and preventive measures may be taken to prevent any untoward incident”.
The move comes in view of a court directive after the attack on Kumar at Patiala House court complex on February 17, which said police must ensure that none of the students arrested in connection with the sedition case suffer even a scratch.