Dehradun: A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttarakhand police will now probe the alleged hate speeches made by Hindu seers against Muslims at the ‘Dharma Sansad’ held in Haridwar last month.
It has been set up on the directions of Garhwal Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Karan Singh Nagnyal.
The DIG Sunday said that the SIT — which will take over the probe from Haridwar Police — will be headed by Dehradun Superintendent of Police (Rural) Kamlesh Upadhyaya. It will include an inspector from Haridwar, two assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) and an assistant superintendent (ASP) rank official.
The move comes a day after the Muslim Seva Sangathan — an organisation working towards the betterment of the minority community in Dehradun — protested outside the Uttarakhand police headquarters, demanding the arrest of Hindu seers who had allegedly made controversial statements during the three-day event.
Five seers have been booked so far in connection with the ‘Dharma Sansad’.
“Investigation is going on and the probe team is examining whether charges made in the FIRs are arrestable or not. But these people are certainly accused and they will be chargesheeted in court,” Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar told ThePrint.
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Why no immediate arrests
The initial FIR in connection with the ‘Dharma Sansad’ was lodged under section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), towards the end of last month.
It had named former chairman of the Shia Central Waqf Board of UP Wasim Rizvi now Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi (who converted to Hinduism in December 2021), Niranjani Akhara mahamandaleshwar Puja Shakun Pandey, also known as Sadhvi Annapurna, and seer Dharmdas, who was also part of the event.
On Friday, two more Hindu seers — Dasna Temple seer and Juna Akhara mahamandaleshwar Yati Narsinghanand, and Dharmraj Sindhu — were booked. Moreover, IPC section 295 (destruction, damage of a place of worship or an object held sacred) was added to the charges against all five accused.
A senior police officer told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that immediate arrests are unlikely to happen in the case under the IPC sections mentioned in the FIR as they carry a punishment of maximum three years’ imprisonment.
“For (immediate) arrest, charges have to be under IPC sections having provisions for imprisonment of minimum seven years,” the officer added.
“The process of evidence collection is ongoing. Those named in FIRs are being summoned and their statements are being recorded,” said V Murugeshan, inspector general (law and order).
“Whatever legal action is needed will be taken once there is adequate evidence. Every action will depend on the outcome of the ongoing probe,” he added.
Nothing wrong was said, says accused
Meanwhile, Sadhvi Annapurna, one of the accused in the case, said “nothing wrong” was spoken at the Haridwar ‘Dharma Sansad’.
“None of the seers present at the Dharma Sansad said anything wrong as is being made out by the anti-Hindu political class and the media. All we said there was about the self-defence of the Hindu community. Is talking about the security and safety of Hindus wrong?” she told ThePrint.
“Even the charges made against us are not as per law. According to them, the charges say that seers present in the conclave had caused some killings. We will face the allegations and continue to work for the betterment of Hindus and awaken them for their safety,” added Sadhvi Annapurna, who is a former IIM professor.
The January 1 protest
On Saturday, a group of local Muslims from Dehradun protested at the state police headquarters, demanding arrests of the Hindu seers.
The participants included several maulvis, imams and other religious leaders. Naeem Qureshi, president of the Muslim Seva Sangathan, under whose banner the protest was held, alleged that the seers were “trying to divide the people and the nation on religious lines”.
“The second largest population of this country is trying to save the Constitution. Strict action must be taken against those trying to break the Constitution and threatening to kill minorities of the country,” he said in a statement.
DGP Ashok Kumar said the deadlock between the police and protesters ended after he held a meeting with Qureshi and other Muslim leaders and directed IG Garhwal to form an SIT.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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