Four persons were arrested for disturbing public order by allegedly gathering at a private property in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district and offering namaz without permission, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The persons accused in the matter had allegedly converted the plot of land in the Jam Samant village in the Bareilly district into a makeshift mosque by building a tin structure that covered the site. The plot is reportedly owned by the family of the village chief.

Three other persons, including the village chief, who have been named in the first information report, are absconding. The police are conducting raids to arrest them, the newspaper reported.

A case was registered against the seven persons and other unidentified individuals for the incident that took place while orders prohibiting public gatherings were in place in Bareilly ahead of Republic Day, PTI reported.

They have been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant.

Sanjay Tomar, the Behadi station house officer, was quoted as saying that more than 20 persons were praying inside a shed built on the plot without permission. The police have invoked charges of breach of peace, Tomar added.

The police acted on a complaint by an office-bearer of local Hindutva organisation Hindu Jagran Manch. On Saturday, group member Himanshu Patel had posted about the incident on social media platform X and tagged police officials.

Patel had shared a video recorded by an associate using a drone.

Following Patel’s post, the police had arrived at the site and detained some persons.