Uttarakhand cops make first arrest in Haridwar Dharma Sansad case

The Uttarakhand Police on Thursday made the first arrest in the Dharma Sansad hate speech case nabbing Waseem Rizvi who is now known as Jitendra Narayan Tyagi from Roorkee in Haridwar district, and issued notices to two other key accused Yati Narsimhananda and Sadhvi Annapurna for appearance before it.

All the three are named along with others in the first information reports (FIRs) lodged in connection with the case.

While Rizvi has been arrested, notices for appearance under Section 41 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been sent to Yati Narasimhanand and Sadhvi Annapurna, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI.

Yati Narasimhanand is the controversial priest of the Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad who had organised the Dharma Sansad in Haridwar, while Sadhvi Annapurna was one of the speakers at the event where highly provocative speeches were allegedly made against Muslims.

Waseem Rizvi was arrested from Narsan border in Roorkee, Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Yogendra Rawat told PTI.

Rizvi who changed his name to Jitendra Narayan Tyagi after converting to Hinduism is among more than 10 people named in the FIRs lodged in connection with the case.

He was formerly the head of Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board.

This is the first arrest in the case.

When asked whether more arrests will follow, the SSP said it will depend on how the investigation progresses.

The Uttarakhand government has been under tremendous pressure from different quarters to take action against those who had delivered the speeches at the event.

Even the Supreme Court had pulled up the state government on Wednesday for not acting against the guilty though so many days have passed after the incident.

Some participants at the Dharma Sansad held in Haridwar from December 17-19 have been accused of delivering highly provocative speeches.