The Uttarakhand police on Saturday added two more names in the FIR related to the alleged hate speeches delivered at a religious event in Haridwar last month.

A case has now been filed against Yati Narasimhanand, the organiser of the Dharma Sansad held from December 17-20, where religious leaders had called for violence against Muslims.

The speeches were captured in several clips that circulated all over social media. 

Speaking to ANI, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said that on the basis of a viral video clip of the event, the names of Sagar Sindhu Maharaj and Yati Narsinghanand Giri have been added to the FIR in the case.

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With this, a total of five people have been named in the report. The other accused include Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, a woman identified as ‘Sadhvi Annapurna’, a man named Dharam Das, and Wasim Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi. They have all been charged with promoting enmity between religious groups and defiling a place of worship, according to an NDTV report. 

The FIR, which was filed after massive outrage over the inflammatory speeches made at the event, had initially named only former Shia Waqf Board chief Jitendra Narayan Tyagi.

Officials said that section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (destruction, damage of a place of worship or an object held sacred) was also added to the FIR apart from section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), reported PTI.

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But organisers and speakers at the event have claimed innocence. Speaking to NDTV, Hindu Raksha Sena’s Prabodhanand Giri, who was also present at the event, said, “I am not ashamed… I am not afraid of police. I stand by my statement…. If anyone tries to kill me, I will fight back. I am not afraid of the law.”

A spate of similar incidents, particularly in Delhi and Chattisgarh, were reported since the Haridwar event. Urging the Supreme Court’s attention, 76 of the top lawyers of the country wrote to Chief Justice NV Ramana to take suo motu cognisance of the events. They said that such events and speeches ‘amount to an open call for murder of an entire community’, and pose a ‘grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens’.

Five former Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces also wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to caution that such calls could lead to ‘internal disharmony’, according to an NDTV report.