Yati Narsinghanand and another seer named in U’khand hate speech FIR
The number of people accused of giving hate speeches at a three-day religious congregation rose to five in the complaint filed at the Kotwali police station in Haridwar.
Dehradun: Hindu seers Yati Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj were named on Saturday as accused in the hate speech case in Haridwar earlier this month being investigated by police in Uttarakhand.
“Haridwar police, after verifying the videos of the hate speech incident in the three-day event, has added the names of two more accused, Yati Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj,” said Ashok Kumar, director-general of police.
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The number of people accused of giving hate speeches at a three-day religious congregation rose to five in the complaint filed at the Kotwali police station in Haridwar. The other three named are Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, formerly known as Waseem Rizwi, Annapurna Maa alias Pooja Shakun Pandey, and Dharamdas Maharaj, a general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha.
Police have added section 295(a) of the Indian Penal Code (insulting a religion with deliberate and malicious acts) to the complaint, Kumar said.
“As assured earlier, police are taking all necessary action in the case as the probe is progressing,” he said.
Police had on December 23 registered a case under section 153 (a) of IPC (promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred) against Tyagi and other unidentified accused at the Kotwali police station after videos of the event held on December 17-19 caused a furore on social media as there were calls for violence against minorities from the podium.
On December 25, police added the names of Pandey and Dharamdas Maharaj, both hailing from Haridwar. The case is being investigated by a sub-inspector of police at the Kotwali police precinct.
Experts, however, questioned the “delay” in police action in the case.
“In such incidents, police should be very very active as communal issues are always very sensitive in our country. But here it seems to be the opposite, don’t know why. It should not have happened at all,” said senior advocate in Nainital high court, Kartikeya Gupta.
Citing the sections of Indian Penal Code used in the case, Gupta added, “No section of IPC bars arresting. If the accused is not cooperating in the probe, then he/she could be arrested...”
Army officer Lt Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd), too, criticised the “delayed” action. “What happened in the Dharma Sansad was completely against the principles of secularism which is the core of our constitution. How can anyone call for violence against a particular community that too by dragging army in it which is the foremost secular institution of India. The delay in action by police against the accused is definitely questionable,” said Negi.