Men who vandalised Christmas decorations in Palladium mall granted bail: Police

Five persons were detained for allegedly vandalising Christmas decorations at Palladium Mall near Thaltej on SG Highway in Ahmedabad

Five men who allegedly made a forced entry into Palladium Mall on December 27 and vandalised Christmas decorations, were on Monday granted bail by a local court, Ahmedabad city police officials said.

Five men under the banner of an unknown group “Bhagwa Sena” (saffron army) forcefully entered Palladium Mall and caused damage to the decorations.

According to the FIR filed on the basis of a complaint by a security guard at Vastrapur police station on December 27, the five men – including a 19-year-old – forcibly entered the mall, argued with the guards, pushed past them and began throwing the Christmas trees on the ground. The FIR describes the Christmas trees as “decoration tree setup”. Purported videos of the incident had gone viral.

They continued with the vandalism on the first, third and fourth floors of the mall before being stopped by guards who then called the police.

They were booked under BNS sections 333 (trespass), 189(2) (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 190 (common intent of unlawful assembly), and 324(2) (mischief). They were detained from the spot and placed under arrest by Vastrapur police.

Inspector LL Chavda said, “We arrested all five of the accused and took preventive steps against them. We produced them in court which saw fit to grant them bail.”

When asked why BNS sections regarding outraging of religious sentiments or promoting enmity between groups had not been added to the FIR, Inspector Chavda said, “They did not say in public that they have a problem with a certain community or religion, which is why those sections were not added.”

Police officials said they have never heard of this group before and the accused primarily appear not to have any criminal antecedents.

However, with New Year knocking on the door, Vastrapur police said they have stepped up vigilance and provided bandobast and patrolling at the two major malls under their jurisdiction, Palladium and Ahmedabad One.