Patna: Union minister Ashwini Choubey's son Arjit Shashwat, booked under non-bailable sections of the IPC and charged with fomenting communal tension, on Friday claimed he is not an absconder, and has the "support" of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Shashwat, 38, told The Telegraph over phone that he is "very much at home" in Patna. He is among 21 persons named in a case lodged with the Nathnagar police station in Bhagalpur, around 230km east of Patna, for a motorcycle rally on March 17.

"The shobha yatra was to maintain communal harmony," Shashwat said. "Even Bhagalpur BJP district president Abhay Kumar Ghosh, a member of the peace committee, has been booked for communal tension! It is very disappointing. If I had not taken permission, how come we were provided escort party by every police station throughout the procession? We had taken due permission. We have submitted documents to the DM, SDO and SSP. The day before the procession the SSP called me saying he was busy in Vikramshila Mahotsava and that the DSP has been deputed to alert all police stations."

Shashwat said the charge that the procession members carried dangerous weapons "is totally false".

"You can check my Facebook account where the yatra was telecast live," he said. "After the tension, the police had to fix someone otherwise they would be in trouble so they targeted me. I am not an absconder. I will take part in the worship of Ram Lalla in Bhagalpur on Ram Navami. The communal tension was created by the RJD and the Congress. They want to malign the name of Nitishji and Sushil Modi ji."

Asked if his open dares were not causing embarrassment to Nitish, Shashwat said: "He is my guardian.... There is no question of embarrassing Nitish ji. He knows everything and his support is also there with me. I am not absconding. Rapists and murderers go underground; not one who raises slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Vande Mataram."