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- Police in central India have arrested 15 Muslim men and charged them with sedition – punishable by life in prison – for celebrating Pakistan’s victory over India in the Champions Trophy cricket final.
- The men, aged 19 to 35, were arrested in central Madhya Pradesh state’s Burhanpur district after locals complained that they shouted pro-Pakistan slogans and lit firecrackers after the match ended on Sunday night.”We received a complaint from a local Hindu man who accused them of celebrating after India lost the match,” Burhanpur police chief Raja Ram Parihar told the AFP news agency.
- The accused have also been charged with criminal conspiracy, the officer said, adding the celebrations continued for hours in the sensitive locality. The village where the incident took place has a 60 percent Muslim population.
- The men were presented before a court on Tuesday and sent to jail pending trial.
- In India, sedition is an offence which may result in the surrender of passports, ineligibility for government jobs, and even life imprisonment.
