Haridwar hate speech: after SC notice, Dasna temple priest Yati Narsinghanand held

After the arrest of Waseem Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Tyagi in connection with the three-day conclave in Haridwar where several hate speeches were made targeting Muslims, the Uttarakhand police arrested its key organiser, Yati Narsinghanand Saturday night.

Narasinghanand, the controversial priest of Dasna temple in Ghaziabad, had organised the event in Haridwar from December 17-19.

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.

Tyagi was formerly known as Waseem Rizvi and changed his name after converting to Hinduism.

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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.

Both Tyagi and Narasimhanand are among those named accused in the FIRs lodged in connection with the event.

The arrest of Tyagi and Narsinghanand has come after the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi Police and the Uttarakhand government.

The notice was over a PIL alleging police inaction and seeking probe into the hate speeches at two separate events in Haridwar, organised by Narsinghanand, and another in Delhi by Hindu Yuva Vahini where speakers allegedly called for the “genocide of members” of a community.