Bageshwar Dham head priest Dhirendra Krishna Shastri booked for provocative speech

A case has been filed against self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the head priest of Bageshwar Dham, on Friday (March 24) for allegedly making a provocative speech and hurting public sentiments.

Shastri, 26, claims to predict the future of people through chits and over the phone.
The case was registered at Hathipol police station over a speech that he delivered during a Dharm Sabha programme held at Gandhi ground in Udaipur on Thursday (March 23), Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Chandrasheel Thakur told PTI.

Udaipur police took suo moto cognizance of the matter and filed a case against Shastri under Section 153-A of IPC for promoting enmity on grounds of religion.

Shastri recently was in news after 36 of his disciples lost their gold chains at a two-day event held by him at Salasar Central Park Ground in Mumbai. The event was reportedly attended by over two lakh devotees.

Meanwhile, five men were arrested in Udaipur’s Kelwara area for attempting to remove flags at a religious place to replace them with saffron ones.

Station House Officer (SHO) Kelwara police station (Rajsamand) Mukesh Soni said the accused were caught while they were trying to remove flags at a religious place near Kumbhalgarh town.

(With inputs from agencies)