The accused were booked under IPC sections 153-A, 253-A, 34, 341 and 506 at Sadar police station on Saturday night Two men were booked for allegedly threatening a maulvi to stop conducting the Friday namaz and forcing him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ after confronting him in Sector 39 on Friday night. Police said the allegations are yet to be verified.
Earlier, on the same day, a group of people had disrupted namaz in Sector 12.
Aman Yadav, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Sadar, said, “An FIR has been registered and a probe has been initiated.”
The accused were booked under IPC sections 153-A (promotion enmity between different grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 253-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 34 (common intention), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at Sadar police station on Saturday night, said police.
According to police, the incident took place at 11 pm on October 22, when the complainant, who conducts Friday namaz in Sector 40, was going home after running errands. Police said, he alleged that two men, one of whom is a local from the neighbourhood, started following him and confronted him in front of a house in Sector 39.
In the FIR, the complainant claimed, “The accused threatened me and told me to stop conducting the Friday namaz. Both [accused] threatened me with dire consequences if I didn’t heed their warning of putting a stop to the Friday namaz. I pleaded with them that we have to live peacefully and we should not spread hate, but they kept abusing and asked me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”
The complainant said he repeated the chant a few times as “he feared for his life”.
Talking to The Indian Express on Sunday, the maulvi alleged, “They let me go but kept following me home. They also circled the area around my house on a motorcycle thrice. I, my family, and others in the neighbourhood are now extremely afraid and feel threatened. The entire experience has shaken us up and we don’t know when they [accused] can reappear and attack us.”
A police officer, privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, “The allegations of the complainant are yet to be verified. One accused has been named in the FIR. He has a prior case of assault registered against him.”
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