Two people accused of giving hate speeches at a religious event in Haridwar on December 17-19 have been summoned by police on Tuesday for questioning, even as one of them has filed a complaint alleging “threat to life from Muslim fundamentalists”.
Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, previously known as Wasim Rizvi, former chairman of Shia Waqf Board in Uttar Pradesh, and Pooja Shakun Pandey, alias Annapurna Maa, were served notice under section 41(a) of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) to report to the Haridwar Kotwali police station by January 4 to record their statements.
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“Both of them received the notices,” said Rakendra Kathait, station house officer at the police precinct.
A similar notice couldn’t be served to the third accused, Dharamdas Maharaj, general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha. “He wasn’t present at his Haridwar residence,” Kataith said. ” We are trying to locate him.”
Further legal action will be taken if the two accused fail to appear.
{{/usCountry}}Further legal action will be taken if the two accused fail to appear.
{{/usCountry}}“If that happens, the local court will issue non-bailable warrants against them as per the legal procedure,” the police officer said.
Regarding Tyagi’s complaint, he said: “The complaint was lodged by Tyagi, along with some other seers, in which he claimed to face threat to life from Muslim fundamentalists ever since he converted to Hinduism. The police are verifying the complaint before taking further action.”
City police have also issued “strict warning” to the organisers of Tuesday’s event against any hate speech.
“Police have given stern warning to the organisers of the event against any similar incident,” said police superintendent Swatantra Kumar Singh. “We don’t want any disturbance in the law and order situation in the holy town before elections,” he told reporters.