Uttar Pradesh: 4 tourists booked for offering ‘namaz’ at a mosque in Taj premises

AGRA: Four tourists were booked by Agra police on Wednesday for allegedly offering 'namaz' at a mosque inside Taj Mahal premises, which is prohibited except on Fridays.
Of the four people arrested, three of them belong to Telangana, while one is from UP’s Azamgarh, said police.
SP (city) Vikas Kumar said CISF personnel saw six people offering namaz inside the mosque on Wednesday evening around 7 pm, and detained four of them while the other two managed to escape. They were handed over to Tajganj police and an FIR was registered against them under IPC section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riots) on the basis of a complaint filed by CISF personnel.
The tourists — Avesh Mohammad, Mohammad Azaruddin, Shekh Yashir from Telangana and Owais Ur Rahman from Azamgarh were presented before the court on Thursday and were later released on bail.
ASI superintending archeologist (Agra circle) Raj Kumar Patel said that as per the provisions of The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological sites and Remains Act, 1958, no new practice is allowed at any monument which was not earlier being done during the time of its protection. Also, no religious activities are allowed inside the premises except Friday namaz, tarabi, Ramzan and Urs as per Supreme Court order.
President of Intezamia committee Syed Ibrahim Zaidi said that if there is any order prohibiting offering namaz on the other days, it should be provided to them. “I have sought the order copy in writing,” he said, adding that no clear instructions are displayed outside the mosque in this regard. “Why were the tourists held after offering namaz? Why were they not stopped by ASI employees for offering namaz inside the mosque?” questioned Zaidi.