Do you see these bullet marks? I was driving that night.” At first glance, Dinesh Arya seems an unremarkable man. Dressed in a white dhoti-kurta, the light moustache and stubble fail to hide the wrinkles that have begun to form on his face.

Wrapped around his right wrist is a thick coil of red sacred thread, and he walks around with a swagger, often ordering others around him. During the day, Arya performs the role of priest at Dayanand Math, a spiritual home located in the heart of Rohtak, Haryana. As dusk falls, the 34-year-old and his team of volunteers, mostly ...