Ranchi, July 18:  A day after Swami Agnivesh, a nationally prominent social activist was assaulted in BJP-ruled Jharkhand, CP Singh, a Jharkhand Minister claimed that Agnivesh had himself planned the attack to gain popularity.  Singh, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Swami Agnivesh is a person who survives on foreign donations. "The saffron dress that he wears is to deceive the simple Indians. He is a fraud and not a Swami", Singh added.

The statement comes a day after Agnivesh, the 79-year social activist, known for his work against bonded labour, was slapped, thrashed and verbally abused in Jharkhand's Pakur town by a mob. He was rushed to the Pakur Sadar Hospital, where doctors took his X-ray following a complaint of pain in the veins. He was seen nursing his injuries in the hospital.

Agnivesh said the mob belonged to BJP-affiliated youth groups who accused him of speaking against Hindus. In Ranchi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das ordered a probe into the incident. Reports inform that Agnivesh was assaulted in Pakur when he came out after addressing a press conference, where he slammed the BJP government in the state accusing it of "acquiring tribal land by displacing them and giving it to corporate".

According to a report by PTI, Agnivesh said, "As soon as I came out of the venue, BJYM (Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha) and ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) activists attacked me without any provocation. They alleged that I was speaking against Hindus".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 01:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).