Father-son duo arrested for 'defamation' in UP’s Varanasi after SP worker hires bouncers to ‘protect’ tomatoes 

Two people-- a vegetable vendor and his son -- on Sunday were arrested days after a Samajwadi Party (SP) worker reportedly hired two bouncers to protect tomatoes in his store earlier this month as the prices of the kitchen staple hit record highs across India. The arrested vegetable vendor has been identified as Jagnarayan Yadav and his son was identified as Vilas Yadav. 

At the time of being arrested, the father-son duo was taking care of the SP worker’s shop. The SP worker identified as Ajay Fauji, who owns and runs a grocery business in Varanasi’s Lanka area, is currently absconding.  The vegetable vendor’s family and people nearby claimed the vendor and his son were innocent, India Today reported.   

The two were arrested for ‘defamation’, according to the police. Fauji was accused of plotting the entire conspiracy and painting himself as being “caught in the political battle between SP and BJP”.  

Police registered a case under sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 291 (continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue), and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).   

Fauji had said in the viral video that he deployed two bouncers to prevent customers getting aggressive over tomato prices. He deployed bouncers at his cart from 9 am to 5 pm. He also kept signboards reading “Pehle paisa baad mein tamatar” (Payment first, tomatoes later) and “Kripya tamatar aur mirchi ko nahi chhuye” (Please don’t touch tomatoes and green chillies).   

Fauji, who is selling tomatoes at a price of Rs 140 per kg to Rs 160 per kg, told PTI: “I kept hearing about arguments over the tomato price among people. People at my shop too tried to haggle. So, to put an end to the constant arguments, I decided to deploy bouncers in uniform at my cart”. He, however, did not reveal the cost at which he hired the two bouncers.   

Earlier, Fauji cut a tomato-shaped cake in Varanasi on SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday.   

(With India Today, PTI inputs) 

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