Lalit Sharma, the state president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, openly threatened violence against Deepak Kumar, stating that they would “teach him a lesson” on February 12 (Thursday) and urging Hindu nationalist supporters to gather at the gym owned by Deepak. He urged the police and administration to stay out of their way and challenged anyone to come forward in Kumar’s support. Deepak had recently intervened to stop Bajrang Dal members from harassing a Muslim clothing store vendor and has since been targeted by Hindu nationalist groups.