South Shillong MLA Sanbor Shullai has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the release of the Jesuit priest, Fr Stan Swamy, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week.
The letter, a copy of which was also sent to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, said that Swamy had “dedicated his life with a mission to uplift the tribals” of Jharkhand and had a clean record, with his past work speaking “volumes of his good intent, humble nature and law abiding citizen of the nation.”
The 83-year-old was arrested on October 8 in connection with the case surrounding the Elgaar Parishad, which investigators believe led to the Bhima Koregaon violence in January 2018 in Pune.
Shullai, who belongs to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said that Swamy’s arrest has “triggered insecurity” among Christians in Jharkhand and elsewhere.
“Thus I kindly seek your intervention to release him unconditionally keeping his age and his health related condition in mind,” the letter said.
