Uttarakhand Police on Friday stopped from entering the state a self-proclaimed sadhu from Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar who is on a mission to conduct "raids" on roadside eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to ascertain the religious identity of their owners and employees.

“We stopped him and his supporters at the Narsan border before he could enter Uttarakhand. We have clear instructions not to allow any person to do policing in the state,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.

Yashveer, the head of the Yoga Sadhana Ashram in Baghra and the founder of the Sanyukt Hindu Morcha, had reached Narsan in Roorkee via Saharanpur after "raiding" several dhabas along the Kanwar Yatra route in Uttar Pradesh. He claims that a large number of Muslim owners of dhabas are misleading the devotees by choosing Hindu religious names for their establishments.

"The government shouldn’t try to restrict my movement or my mission. I don’t need anyone’s permission to conduct raids on the shops and dhabas run by Muslims in the guise of Hindus,” Yashveer told reporters at Narsan.

Prodded about his plan of action, he said: “I’ll stay here for a few hours and then move forward along with my supporters. Muslim shopkeepers and dhaba owners must mention their correct identity and remove the names of Hindu deities from their signboards. The kanwariyas have every right to know from whom they are buying eatables."