4 Held for Waving Saffron Flag at Taj Mahal After Video Goes Viral

The four belonged to a Hindu right-wing outfit called the Hindu Jagran Manch.

Taj Mahal. Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo Courtesy: iStock Images)

Four men belonging to a right-wing Hindu outfit have been arrested from Agra for unfurling and waving saffron flags at the Taj Mahal after a video showing the same went viral.

CISF personnel, deployed at the Taj Mahal, arrested the four men on Monday, 4 January, and handed them to the police. The four have been identified as Gaurav Thakur, Sonu Baghel, Vishesh Kumar and Rishi Lavania.

The organisation the men belong to is called the Hindu Jagran Manch and Thakur is the district president of their youth wing.

A viral video shows three men carrying the saffron flags in the Taj Mahal complex and unfurling them, as a fourth person recorded the video.

Speaking to The Times Of India, CISF Commandant (Taj Mahal), Rahul Yadav, said that the men were involved in similar incidents last year as well.

“Our security personnel use metal detectors for frisking visitors but a small piece of cloth can’t be detected. Selfie sticks are allowed and they used it for hoisting these cloth flags," he told the paper.

A case against the three has been registered at the Tajganj Police Station under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 in The Criminal Law Amendment Act.

(With inputs from Times Of India)