He ran away after the incident with the church, not with the fakir. This is BBC being typical BBC when it comes to India.

After the TV show with the fakir, there were lively debates on TV about superstitions, science etc. I don't think he felt a threat to life, since many Hindus publicly supported him. The response in the church incident was completely different. (Not saying that the fakir incident couldn't have been a contributing factor in whether he felt safe.)

On BBC's India coverage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Indian_sentiment#BBC