Ajmer Dargah Cleric Arrested for Offering Bounty on Nupur Sharma

Rajasthan Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on the basis of a complaint against Salman Chishti, a dargah ‘khadim', over a video clip.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

A cleric at the Ajmer Dargah was arrested on Tuesday, 5 July, after he allegedly offered on camera to gift his house to anyone who beheads now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her remark on Prophet Muhammad.

The Rajasthan Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Monday night on the basis of a complaint against Salman Chishti, a dargah ‘khadim', over a video clip.

In the video, the cleric purportedly says he would give his house to anyone who brings Sharma's head to him. He is further heard saying that he would have shot her dead for insulting Prophet Muhammad.

"You have to give a reply to all Muslim countries. I am saying this from Ajmer, Rajasthan and this message is from Huzur Khwaja Baba ka Darbar," he said in the video, referring to the Sufi shrine that sees many Hindu visitors, apart from Muslim devotees, news agency PTI reported.

Cleric a 'History Sheeter', Had Recorded Video in Inebriated Condition: Police

Meanwhile, Dargah Station House Officer Dalveer Singh Faujdar has said that the accused has a criminal background.

Ajmer Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Vikas Sangwan said Chisti was caught at his residence in Khadim mohalla. He added that Chishti seems to have recorded the video in an inebriated condition. Further interrogation is underway.

Condemning the video, the office of Ajmer Dargah Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan said that the renowned shrine is seen as a place of communal harmony.

It added that the views expressed by the 'khadim' in the video cannot be considered a message from the dargah and that the remarks were a statement by one individual.

Later, a video went viral in which Saraswat was seen tutoring ‘khadim’ Salman Chishti, telling him to say in his statement that he was intoxicated when he called for Sharma’s beheading.

After this, the Ajmer Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sandeep Saraswat was put on APO (Awaiting Posting Order) by Rajasthan Police on Wednesday night after a video surfaced. The case has been transferred to the Vigilance Branch.

This comes after four people were arrested in connection with another provocative speech allegedly delivered at the main gate of the Ajmer Dargah on 17 June.

Though the video of the speech was in circulation earlier, the arrests were made after the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur.

Nupur Sharma was suspended by the saffron party over a remark on Prophet Muhammad during a television debate that outraged the Muslim community and garnered condemnation from several Islamic nations.

(With inputs from PTI)