Hate speech: Yati, 2 Hindu Mahasabha leaders booked

ALIGARH police on Monday booked Dasna Devi temple priest Yati Narsinghanand for allegedly giving inflammatory speeches against a particular community at an event organised by Hindu Mahasabha on Sunday.

Police have also booked Hindu Mahasabha national secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey and husband Ashish Pandey, who is also the spokesperson of the outfit. The three have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

In a video clip that has gone viral, Narshinganand is seen purportedly using derogatory language against the Quran and also making provocative comments against the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and madrasas.

According to police, a religious function was organised by Ashish Pandey where Yati Narsinghanand and several others took part. Police said Pandey did not take permission from concerned authorities to host the event.