Six held for disrupting ‘namaz’ in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune news Service

Gurugram, April 26

The police have arrested six persons on the charge of disrupting “namaz” in Sector 53 here on April 20 with chants of “Jai Sri Ram” and “Radhey Radhey”.

The accused — identified as Arun, Manish, Deepak, Monu alias Nambardar, Mohit, and Ravinder, all residents of nearby Wazirabad and Kanhai villages — were arrested on the basis of a video of the incident that went viral last week. In the video, they are seen asking Muslims to clear off the area.

Rumours have been rife the accused are affiliated to pro-Hindu groups. The police, however, have refuted this. “The accused are from nearby villages and have no affiliation with any group or organisation. The rumours are being circulated to communalise the matter,” police spokesperson Ravinder Kumar said.

Last Friday around 3 pm, the six persons reached an open area opposite Saraswati Kunj, where about 50 men had gathered to offer “namaz”. They raised slogans and disrupted the prayer.

A video of the incident purportedly show the accused telling Muslims to offer prayers in a mosque. In the video, they were reportedly heard saying, “Masjid kis liye banaya hai (Why has the mosque been constructed?)” and “apne gaon me jao, namaz padho (Go to your village and offer prayers there).”

“A case under Sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 296 (disturbing religious assembly) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC,” said Arvind Dahiya, Station House Officer (SHO), Sector-53 police station.

Villagers, however, are up in arms against the arrest of the accused. They claimed the police were soft on, what they described as, “illegal” prayer meetings.

A panchayat member of Wazirabad village said, “The boys (accused) did not stop anyone from praying. They only wanted the ‘namazis’ to pray at a designated place. The population of migrants has increased in our area. These men have prayer meetings anywhere they like. On Friday, they sit on roads or flyovers or footpaths, disrupting public life. Will the district administration allow us to gather 50 men for a ‘satsang’ in open spaces? The panchayat demands release of all boys.”