A large crowd led by leaders of various Hindu organizations gathered at Berasia police station in rural Bhopal and staged a massive protest in connection with a case where three Muslim boys allegedly made photos of some minor Hindu girls viral and sent them obscene messages to allegedly blackmail them.
Bhopal Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh ordered the slapping of the National Security Act (NSA) on two of the accused, Armaan and Anas Khan, after the police arrested them in connection with the incident.
The Collector also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Berasia was removed and the Police Station Inspector and a Sub Inspector (SI) of the Berasia police station were suspended in connection with the case.
A large crowd gathered at the Berasia police station on Friday, when the police were taking the accused to the court. The Collector reached the spot himself and had to stand on the bonnet of a four-wheeler and address the irate crowd with a mike in his hand.
The Collector accepted a memorandum from the Hindu organizations. Singh also assured the protesters that their demands would be met.
Only after receiving the assurance from the Collector, the agitating people left the spot.
According to the police, the three men were arrested on charges of clicking photos of minor girls and trying to blackmail them.
The Collector removed Berasia SDM Deepak Pandey and transferred him to the Collector Office.
The Berasia police station in-charge, Inspector Narendra Kulaste and SI Rinku Singh have been suspended for alleged negligence in the case.
The Collector said that SDM Aditya Jain would head a magisterial committee constituted to probe the incident. The committee would submit its report in seven days.