Lucknow: The police on Wednesday registered cases against 13 persons, including a woman leader of Hindu Mahasabha, in Aligarh for firing at an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi with an air pistol, a senior police officer said.
"Today on the occasion of the 71st death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, workers of Hindu Mahasabha fired at the effigy of Mahatma Gandhi. The incident took place in a house in Naurangabad locality of the city. Later, the video of the event went viral on social media," Senior Superintendent of Police of Aligarh Akash Kulhary told PTI.
After the video went viral, a case was registered against 13 persons associated with Hindu Mahasabha including Pooja Shakun Pandey, a woman leader, the SSP said, adding no arrests have been made so far.
The police are conducting raids to nab the accused.
In the video, Pooja Shakun Pandey, wearing saffron, is seen shooting Gandhi in effigy with an air pistol and garlanding his assassin Nathuram Godse. Later she told reporters that her organisation had started a new tradition by "recreating" the assassination, and it would be an annual event "just like the burning of Raavan on Dussehra".
Meanwhile, photos of Pandey with top BJP leaders Shivraj Chouhan and Uma Bharti surfaced online on Thursday. The photos shared on March 19, 2017, seem to have been removed now.