FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari for 'forced entry' at Deoghar temple
The priest, in the complaint, accused the two BJP MPs of “forcibly entering the inner shrine on August 2” despite a restriction on the VIP entry.
A case has been registered against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari and others for “forcibly” entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar, allegedly causing fear and panic among thousands of devotees.
The Jharkhand Police on Friday said it has registered an FIR against the BJP leaders for entering the inner shrine of the temple on August 2 despite a restriction on the entry of VIP or VVIPs during the holy month of ‘Shravan’, when the temple sees the influx of a large number of devotees.
The FIR was lodged on August 7 under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after a complaint by temple priest Kartik Nath Thakur. The priest, in the complaint, accused Dubey and Manoj Tiwari of "forcibly entering the inner shrine on August 2 between 8.45 pm and 9 pm” despite a restriction on the VIP entry.
The “forcible entry” by the MPs and “scuffle” with policemen resulted in causing fear and panic among devotees and a stampede-like situation, the complaint read.
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"An FIR has been lodged at Baba Baidyanath Mandir Police Station against Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari, Kanshikanat Dubey, Sheshadri Dubey and others for entering the inner shrine of the temple, hurting religious tradition and sentiments and causing obstacles in government work by entering into a scuffle with police persons deployed for security reasons," a police official told PTI.
It was also alleged that the two MPs entered the inner chamber of the temple while the 'kancha jal puja' ritual was underway, which led to the disruption during the prayer.
During the month of ‘Shravan’, thousands of ‘Kanwariyas’ embark on a 105-km pilgrimage from Sultanganj in Bihar to Deoghar, Jharkhand, to offer holy Ganga water at the Baba Baidyanath Dham Temple, one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’. This year around 55 lakh 'Kanwariyas' have offered holy water at the temple so far.
How did the BJP leaders respond?
While BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has not responded to the incident, Nishikant Dubey has said that a case has been registered against him "for worshipping".
In a post on X, Dubey said: "This case has been registered for worshipping... So far 51 cases have been registered against me. Tomorrow, I will go straight to the police station from Deoghar airport for my arrest."
This is not the first time that the two MPs have courted controversy.
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In August 2022, an FIR was registered against nine people, including Manoj Tiwari and Nishikant Dubey for allegedly forcing Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials to provide clearance for their chartered flight to take off from Deoghar airport beyond the scheduled time.
According to the complaint, the nine persons violated safety standards by entering the ATC room at the Deogarh airport and “forcibly taking clearance” for the take-off. The Supreme Court, in January this year, confirmed the quashing of the case of criminal trespass registered against the MPs and others for entering the ATC room at Deoghar airport.
