Ghaziabad: Police want Goondas Act against Yati, cite FIRs

GHAZIABAD: Police have recommended charging Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, head priest of the Dasna Devi temple who recently got a senior position in the Juna akahara as a ‘mahamandaleshwar’, under the Goondas Act and sent his file to the Ghaziabad administration to initiate proceedings.
A senior police officer said on Monday the decision was taken because 10 cases are registered against Yati at different police stations in the district, besides one in Delhi, and controversies around him and the temple premises had become frequent.

As a result, the officer said, police have had to deploy personnel near the temple round the clock to maintain law and order. In March this year, a 10-year-old boy from a minority community was thrashed by an aide of Yati for entering the temple compound, which bars entry of Muslims. Earlier this month, another boy, also from the minority community, was likened to a “trained killer” and accused of entering the temple compound “for a recce” by Yati. Police had clarified that the boy’s destination was the adjoining health centre but he had got confused and taken the wrong gate.
In the report sent to the administration, police have described Yati as “dangerous to society” and also referred to his use of “derogatory language” against women in politics. On August 31, three FIRs were filed against him at Masuri police station for his comments on women – two of those on complaints by sub-inspectors Logesh Kumar and Anil Kumar and the third after National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma wrote to DGP Mukul Goel about two videos on Yati’s comments that had been shared on social media platforms. The first video surfaced on August 7 and the other on August 29.
ASP Akash Patel told TOI, “Yati has also tried to disturb peace on a regular basis. Yati alleged (on October 11) a 10-year-old boy had entered the temple to kill him, but police probe showed that the boy had entered mistakenly as he wanted to go to the government hospital to see his relative. We have also mentioned other cases in the report. The file was sent to the administration five days ago and we are now waiting for permission from the district magistrate (to file the charges).” A case under Goondas Act is filed after proceedings in which the administration conducts a hearing in which a person facing the charges can argue against them. In Ghaziabad, the additional district magistrate is likely to preside over the process. Once the hearing is over, the file goes to the DM for a final decision. A person slapped with Goondas Act case must leave the district for a period that can’t exceed six months.
The first FIR in Ghaziabad against Yati was filed in 2005 at Kavi Nagar police station for allegedly threatening a government employee. The second was in 2010 at Masuri police station on charges of abetment. A man who Yati had accused of stealing from the temple had died by suicide. Other cases were filed against him in 2014 (Niwari PS), 2016 and 2017 (Kotwali PS), 2019 (Masuri PS, after a panchayat meeting called by Yati to settle a road rage dispute turned violent) and earlier this year (at Masuri PS) for allegedly making communal remarks. In April 2021, Delhi Police filed a case against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through his remarks made at the Press Club of India. The FIR was lodged at Parliament Street police station.
The Dasna temple priest said on Monday he will meet the Ghaziabad DM to present his side. “If the administration imposes Goondas Act on me, I will go on an indefinite hunger strike outside the CM’s house,” Yati said. Police, after the 2019 violence, tried to invoke Goondas Act against him.