Over 1,700 persons booked for offering Eid namaz on roads in Kanpur
The police have said that mosque committees had been directed to ensure that the prayers are not offered outside their premises.
The Uttar Pradesh Police have booked more than 1,700 persons for offering namaz on the roads outside mosques in three areas of Kanpur without permission on the occasion of Eid on April 22, reported The Times of India.
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 newspaper.
“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],” Kumar told The Times of India. “Despite the ban, everyone started offering namaz by spreading mats on the road. The police tried to stop them, but in vain.”
Three first information reports were registered at the Bajaria, Babu Purwa and Jajmau police stations on April 26.
The FIR at the Bajaria police station has been registered against 1,500 unknown persons and some members of the management committee of a mosque in the locality. The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint by Senior Sub-Inspector Omveer Singh, reported PTI. A total of 200 persons have been booked at the Jajmau police station, while nearly 50 have been booked in the Babu Purwa police station.
The accused 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. “People offering namaz will be identified on the basis of video after which legal action will be taken against them,” said an unidentified police official told the news agency.
However, Mohammad Suleman, a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board has said that accused are being targeted on the basis of religion, reported PTI.
