As per the latest reports, Dasna temple priest Swami Nareshanand Saraswati had come to attend the Jantar Mantar protest, where allegedly inflammatory slogans were raised on August 8. A few hours later, the priest was attacked at Dasna temple, Ghaziabad.
Sachin Gupta, correspondent, Hindi Daily Dainik Bhaskar, wrote in a tweet, “A big update in attack on a priest in Ghaziabad temple… Swami Nareshanand Saraswati came from Bihar to attend the protest under the leadership of Ashwini Upadhyay at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Controversial slogans were raised against a particular community in the protest. He was attacked a few hours after the protest.”
गाजियाबाद के मंदिर में साधु हमले पर बिग अपडेट…
— Sachin Gupta | सचिन गुप्ता (@sachingupta787) August 10, 2021
दिल्ली में जंतर-मंतर पर अश्विनी उपाध्याय के नेतृत्व में प्रोटेस्ट में शामिल होने के लिए स्वामी नरेश आनंद सरस्वती बिहार से आए थे। इस प्रोटेस्ट में मुस्लिमों को लेकर विवादित नारेबाजी हुई। प्रोटेस्ट के चंद घंटे बाद उन पर हमला हुआ।
OpIndia sources confirmed that it is true that Swami Nareshanand came to attend the protest and meet Dasna priest Swami Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, but he did not attend the protest. In one of the videos, one person identified as Uttam Malik had said that he was a follower of Yati Narsinghanand. It cannot be ruled out for sure whether the social media videos of alleged inflammatory sloganeering had anything to do with the attack on Dasna priest.
OpIndia also reached out to Iraj Raja, SP (Dehat), Ghaziabad, to get more information on the case. He said, as of now, the information has not been confirmed by the Police regarding if Swami Nareshanand attended the protests or not, and the investigation is underway.
The attack on a priest in Dasna
On August 10, unidentified assailants entered the premises of Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh tried to kill Hindu priest Swami Nareshanand Saraswati. Reports suggest that the incident took place at around 3:30 am in morning. The assailants scaled the wall of the temple and entered the premises. Swami Nareshanand Saraswati was sleeping at that point in time. The accused stabbed him in the stomach and neck region with a sharp weapon, leading to profuse bleeding and blood loss. The Hindu priest was rushed to the Yashoda hospital on receiving information about the attack. His condition is now said to be critical.
