Yati Narsinghanand is among the people named in the FIRs lodged over hate speeches at the Haridwar Dharma Sansad last month
A screenshot of the video. Image Courtesy: @ashubh/Twitter
On Sunday, Yati Narsinghanand sent to 14-day judicial custody, as per NDTV.
He has been booked under Sections 295 (A) and 509 of the Indian Penal Code and sent to Roshnabad Jail, Haridwar police station SHO Rakinder Singh Kathait said.
Section 295 (A) deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs while section 509 deals with word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
This came hours after the police told that the religious leader was arrested for objectionable remarks on women, and not for hate speech at the Dharam Sansad or religious assembly.
“Yati Narsinghanand has been arrested for derogatory comments against women, not the Haridwar hate speech case right now. He has been issued a notice in that case so far. He will be remanded for the hate speech case too, the procedure is on. We will include the hate speech case details also in the remand application,” the police told NDTV earlier Sunday.
Sources told NDTV the case against Narsinghanand is based on a complaint filed earlier this month for his objectionable and derogatory remarks against women of other religions. The FIR invokes hate speech charges, in addition to charges of insulting women, as per the report.
Narsinghanand, the controversial priest of Dasna temple in Ghaziabad, had organised the ‘Dharma Sansad’ event in Haridwar from 17 to 19 December where alleged hate speeches against Muslims were delivered.
The Uttarakhand Police on Saturday picked up Yati Narsinghanand from his dharna site in Haridwar and brought him to a police station, Haridwar Superintendent of Police (City) Swatantra Kumar told PTI. However, the officer said, it was technically not an arrest.
Narsinghanand is among the people named in the FIRs lodged over hate speeches at the Haridwar “Dharma Sansad” or religious assembly last month. He was picked up from where he was sitting on a dharna in protest against the recent arrest of another accused in the case, Jitendra Narayan Tyagi.
Two FIRs are lodged in Haridwar against more than ten people, including Tyagi, Dharamdas Maharaj, Annapurna Maa, Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj. A special investigation team is probing the case.
Tyagi was formerly known as Waseem Rizvi and changed his name after converting to Hinduism. Tyagi who headed the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board before converting to Hinduism was the first person to have been arrested in connection with the case a couple of days back.
Further action will depend on how the investigation progresses, the official said. Both Tyagi and Narsinghanand are among those named accused in the FIRs lodged in connection with the event.
With inputs from PTI
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