Two more accused named in Haridwar hate speech case

SDG Ashok Kumar says IPC section on ‘insulting religion with malicious intent’ added to the case

DEHRADUN : Two more accused were on Saturday named in the case of alleged hate speeches delivered in a three-day Dharma Sansad held in Haridwar, taking the number of named accused in the case to five, police said.

Confirming the development, director general of police Ashok Kumar said, “The Haridwar police after verifying the videos of the hate speech incident in the three-day event have added the names of two more accused, Yati Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, on Saturday.”

The three other accused who have been earlier named in the case were Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (formerly Waseem Rizwi), Annapurna Maa and Dharamdas Maharaj.

The DGP said that the police have also added section 295(a) of Indian Penal Code to the case already registered in Kotowali police station of Haridwar, which is being investigated by a sub-inspector rank police officer.

“The police have added the section of 295(a) of IPC, which applies to insulting a religion with deliberate and malicious acts. As assured earlier, police are taking all necessary action in the case as the probe is progressing,” said Kumar.

The event was held from December 17-19 in Haridwar but it came into light after the videos of hate speeches by the participants went viral on December 22, causing furore among netizens who asked the Uttarakhand government to take action. The police then registered a case under section 153 (a) of IPC on December 23 against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (formerly Waseem Rizwi) and other unidentified accused at Haridwar Kotwali police station.

On December 25, police added names of two more accused, Annapurna Maa and Hindu Mahasabha general secretary Dharamdas Maharaj, both hailing from Haridwar.

The case is being investigated by a sub-inspector rank police officer of Kotwali police station. In the case, the Haridwar police served notices to Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (formerly Waseem Rizwi), and Annapurna Maa.

Under the notice served under section 41(a) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the two were asked to present themselves before police or judiciary as and when asked.

The police couldn’t serve the notice to Dharamdas Maharaj as he was not present at his residence in Haridwar.