They had been arrested for chanting “goli maaro” on the streets of Calcutta before Amit Shah’s rally and widely criticised for bringing to Bengal one of the many incendiary ploys that lit the Delhi fire. When they were released on Friday after spending five days in jail, they received a hero’s welcome.

As Surendra Tiwari, Sandeep Sarkar, Pankaj Prasad, Sujit Barua and Prasanta Sarkar — all BJP activists from Calcutta and neighbouring districts — walked out of Bankshal Court after their bail prayers were granted, around 50 party workers received them with garlands and abir and chanted “Jai Shree Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki jai”.

The reception, which reminded some of then central minister Jayant Sinha felicitating cow vigilantes convicted of lynching in 2018, left the men in Calcutta “overwhelmed”.

“I’m overwhelmed. It is good to see that the party is with us,” said Tiwari, showing no sign of regretting his provocative action, that too in a communally charged atmosphere.

BJP activists had been keenly awaiting the bail of the five accused, and began celebrating with saffron abir as soon as the prayer was granted.

Another accused, Mukesh Singh, is still in police custody while septuagenarian Dhrubo Basu, who too had been accused of chanting the slogan, which is an open call to shoot those deemed “traitors”, had been granted bail on Monday because of his advanced age.

While marching to Union home minister Shah’s rally at the Shaheed Minar grounds last Sunday, some BJP supporters had been caught on camera chanting “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko”.

Days earlier, central minister Anurag Thakur had goaded a crowd into chanting the slogan, one of the several actions blamed for sparking the Delhi riots that claimed the lives of 53 people.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had sternly reacted to the incident and the police had immediately swung into action and arrested seven persons. While Mamata had said she would not allow the import of such provocative slogans from Delhi, the civil society had pointed out that such a cultural invasion didn’t bode well for Bengal.

The BJP supporters who were present outside Bankshal Court on Friday, however, seemed oblivious to the condemnation. “We don’t think they did anything wrong…. What else do you do with traitors?” asked a man sporting a saffron kurta while awaiting the judgment.

It was unclear who had ordered the rousing reception as no senior BJP leader was present at the court.

But this correspondent had earlier heard state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu direct party workers over phone to arrange for garlands for the arrested members. “Why will we disown our own party workers? If they have demanded that anti-nationals be shot, what is the harm in it?” Basu was heard saying.

Basu later told The Telegraph that the BJP did not believe that the arrested persons had committed any crime.

“I had promised to fight for their bail myself and we did that. If any arrests are made in future for raising these slogans, we will again try our best for their bail and receive them as heroes. The arrests are just another example of police victimisation in Bengal. The governor on Friday intimated the Union home minister about police atrocities,” he said.

The BJP has a history of receiving accused as heroes once they are out on bail.

Apart from the Jayant Sinha episode, last year seven persons accused in the Bulandshahr violence, where a police inspector was killed, had been accorded an overwhelming welcome. They too had been received with chants of “Jai Shree Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki jai”.

Ajit Mishra, the counsel for the accused in Calcutta, said his clients had been framed and the bail had vindicated his argument.

“The charges slapped on them are applicable only when a speech or slogan has actually led to violence, which is not the case here,” he said.