Police arrest 3rd accused in Haridwar hate speech case
HARIDWAR: Haridwar police on Thursday arrested Kali Sena, Uttarakhand, coordinator Swami Dineshanand Bharti formerly known as Sagar Sindhu Maharaj in Haridwar in connection with last year’s Dharam Sansad hate speech case.
This is the third arrest in the case, said police. Before Bharti, Jitendra Narayan Tyagi and Swami Yati Narsinghanand were arrested. While Tyagi is still in prison, Narsinghanand is out on bail, said police.
Bharti was arrested on grounds of violating an earlier notice sent to him (in connection with the hate speech case) under Section 41 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), continuing acts which promote enmity between communities and hindering law and order, said police. “Swami Dineshanand Bharti had convened the Hindu Mahapanchayat at Bhagwanpur based Dada Jalalpur village. Since he has been repeatedly violating the notice served to him for the hate speech — case for which was registered at City Police Station in December 2021 — police arrested Dineshanand,” said City Police Station SP Swatantra Kumar.
Last year, provocative speeches were made against Muslims by some participating seers at Dharma Sansad, videos of which were widely shared on social media platforms, creating an uproar.
A police official said Bharti has been a repeat offender and has been making speeches, promoting disharmony and hatred, and not complying to the notice served under Section 41 CrPC to him. According to Section 41 A of CrPC, if any police officer requires the participation of any individual who is not required to be fundamentally arrested, the official can give a notice for the equivalent. The individual to whom the notice is served is obliged to show up at the specified place and time.
In December 2021, Jwalapurbased resident, Nadeem Ahmed had filed a case against Wasim Rizvi, now converted as Jitendra Narayan Tyagi former chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board, Swami Narsinghanand ,Swami Dharmdas, Sadhvi Annapoorna Bharti and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj now known as Swami Dineshanand Bharti for making hate speech during three day Dharma Sansad held at Ved Niketan ashram from December 16-19 in Haridwar. Dharam Sansad organisers had claimed that the religious conclave was convened for the protection of Sanatan Dharam.
President of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, Mahant Ravindrapuri, of Maha Nirvani Akhada said, “Sanatan Dharma doesn’t preach hatred and if some seers at the said Dharma Sansad had voiced or targeted a certain community then one should be careful about such acts.”
Meanwhile, Hindu Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation general secretary Udita Tyagi alleged that Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, Yati Narsinghanand ,Dineshanand and others have been framed under a conspiracy. On January 2, deputy inspector general (DIG) Garhwal range had formed a five-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case. On January 13, Haridwar police made the first arrest — Jitendra Narayan Tyagi — in connection with the case.
On February 1, Haridwar police had filed another case against Tyagi on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Nadeem Qureshi from Dehradun. Qureshi had accused Tyagi of hurting religious sentiments by delivering hate speech and passing derogatory remarks against a particular community during his book launch in Haridwar on November 21 last year. As the incident had happened in Haridwar, SSP Dehradun passed the complaint to Haridwar police which registered the case.