Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A portion of the Shankaracharya Math, run by the Dwarka Shardapeeth in Gujarat’s Bharuch, was partially damaged after an unidentified man clad in black hoodie jacket and sporting a facemask and white cap tried to set ablaze the building early on Friday while the seer was performing the rituals, the police said.
Gujarat Police that have set up seven special teams to probe the incident are yet to arrest the accused. “The footage shows that the man ran out of the inflammable liquid that he was throwing around and so the fire was restricted to one part of the Math but the intention was clear. We are taking this matter seriously. There has been a dispute going on between the Math and a nearby dargah over the land where the dargah stands,” Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda Chavda told The Indian Express.
According to the seer, Muktanand Swami, the man entered the Math premises around 5.30 am, poured some kind of inflammable liquid all over the premises and set fire to a part of the Math. “Before fleeing he also threw some bits of paper that had some threat messages in the air. On checking the CCTV footage, we saw that he had entered from the back door,” Muktanand Swami said.
He expressed suspicion that the act was in furtherance to an ongoing dispute between the Math and a minority community that had built a dargah on the adjoining land, which the Swami claims belongs to the Math.
“There has been a dispute over the Dargah outside the Math. It stands on the land which belongs to the Math and it has been a contention but this is the first time such an attack has taken place. I believe that the message on the chit was intended for me,” Swami said.
The police have set up seven teams, including the local police station, local Crime Branch, Special Operations Group and other units, to track down the accused, said Chavda, adding that the Math had not received threats earlier.
Bharuch district police on Friday began a probe into the incident.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
