Probe on after masked man caught on camera trying to set ablaze Shankaracharya math

“I was performing the morning rituals when a local came to draw my attention to the presence of a miscreant who was armed with some kind of inflammable liquid that he was throwing all over the premises… He set one part of the Math ablaze and escaped. He also had some paper notes — with threatening messages on them — that he threw in the air. On checking the CCTV footage, we saw that he had entered from the back door,” Muktanand Swami said.

The religious institution is located on the banks of the Narmada River. The CCTV footage, officials said, shows a man wearing a black jacket and white cap and his face covered by a black mask. He was carrying a bag. The video shows him setting fire to a part of the Math. He also throws pieces of paper in the air and walks out of the Math.

Muktanand Swami told police he suspected the act was linked to an ongoing dispute between the Math and some people of 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 that 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 note was intended for me,” Muktanand Swami said.

Mayur Chavda, Superintendent of Police, Bharuch district police, rushed to the spot along with other personnel after receiving information about the incident.

Police cordoned off the part of the temple premises that the accused had set on fire. “We have registered a case and begun a probe into the incident. A total of seven teams, including from the local police station, the Local Crime Branch, a Special Operations Group, and other units have been put on the case to track down the accused,” Chavda told The Indian Express.

“The footage shows that he 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 over the land where the dargah stands,” he added.
Chavda said that Math had not received such threats earlier.

The Bharuch A-Division police station has registered an offence against the unidentified accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 436 (mischief by fire or any explosive substance, intending to cause destruction of any building which is ordinarily used as a place of worship or as a human dwelling), as well as for criminal intimidation and lurking house-trespass by night after preparation for hurt, assault, or wrongful restraint.