22 booked in Aligarh for offering namaz in group inside mosque, cleric claims police beat him

AGRA: Even as the Aligarh police booked 22 persons on Friday offering namaz in a group inside a mosque in Jawan area on charges of violating prohibitory orders, the cleric of the mosque alleged that he was thrashed by the cops after being taken to the police station .
Police have videographed the gathering, which clearly shows about two dozen people inside the mosque, with some of them offering namaz.
A day after the incident, the cleric, Mohd Firoz, admitted that 22-23 people had gathered in the mosque but claimed that only Azan was recited and namaz was not offered there.
The cleric also alleged that police beat him up inside a room of Jawan police station. "Police personnel reached the mosque on Friday and started abusing me that how I dare to offer namaz in a group and took me to the police station where they beat me up," he claimed.
Station house officer of Jawan police station Abhay Sharma told TOI that only FIR was registered in the matter, and no one was arrested. He denied the allegations of the cleric.
A police patrol party was informed about the gathering at the mosque amid section 144 of CrPC (banning assembly of five persons or above) imposed in the area. They were booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease) and section 3 in the Epidemic Act at Jawan police station.