UP: Man, who gave death threat to Bagheshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri, arrested

Police arrested a man on Sunday for allegedly threatening to kill self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Bagheshwar Dham.

The Superintendent of Police, Raj Kumar Agarwal, said, “We have arrested one Anas Ansari for issuing a death threat to Dhirendra Shastri in a post on the social media platform Instagram.”

Following the threat, a local Hindu group lodged an FIR regarding the social media post at Hafizganj police station, which was followed by the arrest.

Not the first time

Earlier in January, a similar death threat was issued to him via phone. The threat call was reportedly made to Lokesh Garg, who is Shastri’s cousin. The unknown caller, before hanging up, asked about preacher Dhirendra Krishna Shastri and threatened to kill him. Garg later registered a complaint about the call to the police.

Based on Lokesh’s complaint, the Madhya Pradesh Police registered a case under Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) and launched an investigation.

More on Shastri

Dhirendra Shastri hit headlines after his controversial remark saying, “support me and I will give you a Hindu nation”. Shastri said that India is such a country where even poet Tulsidas who wrote the “Ramcharitmanas” had to face challenges, adding, “Any priest, cleric or person who challenges Sanatan Dharma will get the reply. But then I am saying, you support me, I will give the Hindu nation”.