New Delhi: Rajasthan’s Ajmer Dargah cleric Salman Chishti was arrested Tuesday night for making inflammatory statements against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Sharma has been in the cross hairs of national and international censure for controversial comments on Prophet Muhammad during a television debate in May.
A video of Chishti — offering his house to anyone who brought Nupur Sharma’s head to him – surfaced Monday, following which a first information report was immediately lodged.
Chishti was also heard saying that he would have shot her dead for insulting Prophet Muhammad.
“You have to give a reply to all Muslim countries. I am saying this from Ajmer, Rajasthan and this message is from Huzur Khwaja Baba ka Darbar,” he said in the video, referring to the Sufi shrine that sees many Hindu visitors, apart from Muslim devotees.
He alleged that Muslims were being “persecuted and killed across the country”.
Dargah Station House Officer Dalveer Singh Faujdar said Chishti has a criminal background.
Additional Superintendent of Police Vikas Sangwan said he received the video on WhatsApp.
He added, “The attitude of the police administration is very strict… Salman Chishti is seen in a state of intoxication in the video.”
Recently, four people were arrested in connection with another provocative speech allegedly delivered at the main gate of the Ajmer Dargah on 17 June.
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