By FATIMA KHAN
Two separate incidents of two Maulanas (Islamic clerics) being killed emerged on Tuesday, 11 June from two districts of Uttar Pradesh: Moradabad and Shamli. Both incidents came days after another Maulana was killed in UP’s Pratapgarh on 8 June. The Quint had previously reported about the Pratapgarh incident here. While in the Moradabad incident, the victim was shot dead; in the Shamli incident, the victim was beheaded.
There is, however, no ostensible connection between the three incidents that has been established by the authorities as of now.
Moradabad Imam Shot Dead Next To Home
In Moradabad’s Bhensia village, on the early hours of Tuesday, Maulana Mohammad Akram’s dead body was found in an abandoned building next to his home. Maulana Akram, 40, had been the imam (prayer leader) of the local Badi Masjid in the Bhensia village for the last 15 years, locals said. Residents were alarmed when Maulana Akram didn’t show up for the fajr prayer on Tuesday morning. Later his body, with a bullet wound in his chest, was discovered metres away from his home.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.