'This was pre-planned,' Swami Agnivesh says after mob attack

After Social Activist Swami Agnivesh was allegedly thrashed by workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, he told the media that the attack was pre-planned and that he could have been murdered.

"Those arrested were allowed to walk free after few hours, this seems to be a drama. Inquiry ordered by DIG also seems fake. I demand an inquiry by a retired or sitting judge of Ranchi HC. This was an attempt to murder, I could've been murdered. This was pre-planned," he told ANI.

Agnivesh was in Jharkhand's Pakur to attend an event and was in his hotel when a mob, allegedly of the ABVP and Yuva Morcha workers, surrounded him.The workers were protesting against Agnivesh and were raising slogans like, "Agnivesh Go Back!!"

Add WION as a Preferred Source

He had lodged a complaint with the Ranchi police stating that a couple of people belonging to RSS, and BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) entered the premises and assaulted him.

Reacting to the incident, Agnivesh said that there was no police personnel present outside the hotel and that he wanted to establish a dialogue with the mob. However as soon as he stepped out of the hotel, he claimed that the mob began thrashing him.

"There was no police personnel present there. Even when I repeatedly called the Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate, they didn't turn up. I told the mob that there was no need to protest, they can come in and talk. No one came in at that time. When I left the hotel they suddenly attacked and hurled abuses at me," he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Moments after the incident, the state government headed by Raghubar Das provided the security to Agnivesh.

Condemning the attack, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe at the BJP in the form of a 'pop quiz' on micro-blogging site Twitter. Rahul Gandhi posted a news report of the incident with his tweet early morning.

However, the Jharkhand wing of the BJP condemned the action and said that the people involved in the incident were not workers of the party.

"They weren't workers of our party. We condemn this but his track record is such that this reaction doesn't come as surprise. Pakur has recently been in news for religious conversion," said Jharkhand BJP spokesperson, P. Sahdeo to ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)