The Uttar Pradesh Police have booked more than 1,700 Muslims for offering namaz on the roads outside mosques in three areas of Kanpur on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr, 22 April.
In peace committee meetings held before the festival of Eid, mosque authorities had been asked to ensure that namaz was not offered on roads, Brijesh Kumar, the in-charge of Begumpurwa police outpost told The Hindu.
Three first information reports were registered at the Bajaria, Babu Purwa and Jajmau police stations.
“However, on the day of Eid…around 8 am, just prior to the prayer, a crowd suddenly gathered on the road in front of the Eidgah [mosque]. Despite the ban, everyone started offering namaz by spreading mats on the road. The police tried to stop them, but in vain,” Kumar told The Times of India.
According to PTI, Senior Sub-Inspector Omveer Singh filed a complaint that resulted in the registration of an FIR at the Bajaria police station. The FIR targets 1,500 unidentified people and certain members of a mosque’s management committee in the area. Meanwhile, approximately 200 people have been charged at the Jajmau police station, and around 50 individuals have been charged at the Babu Purwa police station.
The persons have been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharging duties), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 283 (danger in public way), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), and 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), of the Indian Penal Code, PTI reported.
No arrests have been made in the matter yet as the police is in process of identifying the accused with the help of CCTV footage.
Mohammad Suleman, a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board has said that people are being targeted because they are Muslims…
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