Agnivesh alleges assault by BJP workers on way to pay homage to Vajpayee

Swami Agnivesh was allegedly heckled and assaulted near the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Friday by some people, who the social activist said were BJP workers, when he was on his way to pay homage to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A video of the alleged attack that circulated on social media showed some people heckling the 79-year-old social activist.

"I was attacked while walking towards BJP headquarters to pay my respects to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Around 20-30 BJP workers came and surrounded me and pushed me. My pagdi fell down and they started calling me a traitor," Agnivesh told reporters.

"They pushed me towards the Vishnu Digamber roundabout and kept abusing me. Some policemen were standing there but these persons, including some women, carrying slippers, kept abusing me," he added.

The social activist claimed that he had informed BJP leader and Union minister Harsh Vardhan before visiting there and will be lodging a formal complaint with the police about the assault.

"The police have so far not reached out to me. I will be filing a police complaint. I was attacked earlier also and no arrests have been made in the case. There is an atmosphere of violence and intolerance," he said.

Last month, he was allegedly assaulted by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists, during his visit to Pakur in Jharkhand.