Swami Agnivesh did not inform me about his visit: Jharkhand CM

Refuting Swami Agnivesh’s claim that the attack on him in Jharkhand last month was “pre-planned”, Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday said he or the state authorities had no information about the social activist’s visit to the state.

Agnivesh was on July 17 slapped, kicked and verbally abused in Jharkhand’s Pakur town by groups allegedly affiliated to the BJP for speaking against Hindus. The activist had claimed that as he had written to Das informing him about his visit 15 days in advance, the attack was “pre-planned”.

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“Swami Agnivesh had not given prior notice of his visit to the state... He neither wrote to me as he has stated, nor did he inform the district administration about his visit,” Das told a news channel.

Stressing that the state government was for everybody and followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “sabka saath sabka vikas”, Das said police were probing the case and the guilty will be punished.

“Whoever has done wrong, be it a Hindu organisation or any other organisation, the law will take its own course,” Das said.

On Union Minister Jayant Sinha felicitating those accused of lynching, Das said the people had come to meet the minister but were not felicitated by him.

On June 29, 2017, trader Alimuddin Ansari was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh on the suspicion that he was carrying beef in his vehicle.

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Sinha, the minister of state for civil aviation, had stoked a controversy by allegedly felicitating the eight accused after they came out of prison on bail and met him at his residence in Hazaribagh on July 6. Sinha had allegedly garlanded and offered them sweets.

“They came to meet him, he did not felicitate them,” Das said.

Lynching incidents have taken place in Congress-ruled states too but the state governments have not taken any action there, Das said, adding that a fast track court was set up in Jharkhand to ensure speedy justice.