Sikkim police arrests Bihar man demanding removal of article 371F, charged for promoting communal disharmony

Sumanth Hindu a person who staged a protest in Jantar Mantar, Delhi saying  "there should be one law in the nation and special provision of Sikkim article 371 F should be removed" has been arrested by Sikkim Police and booked under IPC sections 153A/505(2).

The man has been charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language, leading to communal disharmony across the State.

Superintendent of Police Gangtok Tenzing Loden Lepcha while speaking to reporters in a news conference on Monday, November 7, on how Sikkim Police initiated the investigation against Sumanta Kumar on September 13, said, “A team led by PI Avinash Lamichaney went looking for the accused for over 46 days. The investigation was spread across four states Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. He was finally arrested on November 1 in Delhi. Although he hailed from Gopalganj, Bihar, he was currently residing in Panchkula, Haryana”.

Speaking on the investigation so far, the SP Gangtok said that the accused revealed he had received over 700 phone calls both in his favour and against. However, he revealed five names in particular which included Birendra Prasad, involved with Bihar resident organization in Sikkim, old settler Prem Goyal vocal on issues related to Residential Certificates to old settlers and their equal status to Certificate of dedication. 

Tika Devi Pandey has been in service since 33 years and Tashi Lamu Sherpa has been in service since 22 years.

“People who called him and whom he named, offered him support as well as promises of sending money, urging him to stay underground following his protest going viral. We have booked these five persons under 41A. Also completed the first round of interrogation after sending a notice to them”, added the SP.

Highlighting the intention of the accused person the S.P. Gangtok said his protest against article 371F was totally on personal grounds which later turned into a viral anti- Sikkim statement as it was politicised by a few people with vested interests.

“During the interrogation he revealed that he entered Sikkim in 2019 and married a Sikkimese woman in west Sikkim. Later when he faced domestic issues with his wife, he learned he could not avail his rights and privileges in Sikkim, being an outsider,” the SP said.

Speaking on the investigation, the SP said finding anyone outside the state was challenging but this particular case was even more challenging as they were under high public scrutiny and the accused person was following the affairs of Sikkim through social media. Hence he always had an edge during our investigation.