BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari booked for forcibly entering Baidyanath Temple’s inner chamber

The Jharkhand Police on Friday (August 9, 2025) said it has registered an FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari and others for “forcibly” entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on August 2 and hurting religious sentiments.

The FIR was lodged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as per a complaint by temple priest Kartik Nath Thakur for “forcibly entering the inner shrine on August 2 between 8.45 pm and 9 pm” despite a restriction on VIP or VVIP entry during the holy month of ‘Shravan’ in view of a large number of devotees.

“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,” an officer told PTI.

The “forcible entry” by the MPs and “scuffle” with policemen resulted in causing fear and panic among thousands of devotees present and a stampede-like situation, as per the complaint.

Mr. Thakur said he had lodged the FIR on August 7.

In the FIR, he also alleged that both the MPs entered the inner chamber during the ‘kancha jal puja’ ritual, resulting in disruptions during the prayer.

While both MPs did not respond to phone calls, Nishikant Dubey, in a post on X, 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.”

During the month of ‘Shravan’, thousands of devotees known as ‘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’.

About 55 lakh ‘Kanwariyas’ have offered holy water at the temple during the ongoing month-long ‘Shravan Mela’ so far.

Additionally, about two lakh devotees offered obeisance through ‘Shighra Darshanam’ (fast track) facility.

The shrine registered an income of around ₹7.5 crore between July 11 and August 5, which includes revenue from other temple sources.

This is not the first time the MPs have courted controversy.

On August 31, 2022, an FIR was registered against nine people, including both the BJP MPs, 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.

As per the complaint, all nine persons violated safety standards by entering the ATC room at the Deogarh airport and “forcibly taking clearance” for the take-off. The FIR had resulted in a spat on social media between Mr. Dubey and then Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri, who has earlier, too, locked horns with him on many occasions.

The Supreme Court in January had confirmed the quashing of the case of criminal trespass registered against the MPs and others for entering the ATC room at Deoghar airport.