The Uttarakhand police on Sunday registered a second FIR in connection with the three-day ‘Dharam Sansad’ in Haridwar last month where a series of hate speeches targeting Muslims were made.
According to police officials, the FIR, registered on the complaint of a social worker, Nadeem Ali, has been filed under IPC Sections relating to promoting enmity (153A) and wounding religious feelings (298).
While the first FIR had named five accused – Waseem Rizvi aka Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, Saint Dharamdas Maharaj, Annapurna Maa, Yati Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj – the second FIR only names Tyagi, along with “unidentified others”. The complainant, however, claimed that he had named at least nine accused.
Haridwar Kotwali SHO Rakinder Singh said the complaint was filed at the Jwalapur police station but was transferred since the incident took place under his police station jurisdiction.
DGP Kumar also said that an SIT has been formed with an Additional SP and a Deputy SP-level officer as members to investigate the speeches made at the Haridwar event on December 17-19.
During the Sansad, repeated calls were allegedly given by several speakers to wage war against Muslims. Former Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay was among those who attended the conclave and presented Narsinghanand a copy of the Constitution.
On Saturday, a massive protest was held outside the Uttarakhand police headquarters and the state secretariat in Dehradun against the ‘Dharam Sansad’. Those protesting, mainly local Muslim residents, demanded the immediate arrest of the accused in the case.
This story first appeared on indianexpress.com