Bareilly violence: SP delegation barred from visiting city, banquet hall owned by accused razed

Authorities in Bareilly on Saturday razed the banquet hall owned by a man arrested in connection with the recent violence in the city, while police stopped a delegation of Samajwadi Party leaders from visiting the city.

Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) said the portion of ‘Raza Palace’ that was demolished was built in violation of norms. The banquet hall was owned by Dr Nafees, who is also considered to be a close aide of cleric Tauzeer Raza Khan, and has already been arrested and sent to jail in connection with the recent clashes linked to the ‘I love Muhammad’ campaign.

Officials asserted the demolitions were carried out as per procedure and no individual was targeted.

Alleged encroachments by 15 shops in the Sailani area of the city were removed by the Bareilly municipal corporation on Saturday, its officials said.

Bareilly has been tense after protesters opposing FIRs over “I Love Muhammad” posters clashed with police following Friday prayers, after they were not permitted to hold a demonstration. Several people were injured in the violence.

Police have lodged 10 FIRs and booked hundreds of people, mostly unidentified, in connection with the September 26 violence. More than 70 people, including cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, his aides and some relatives, have been arrested.

UP minister JPS Rathore said normalcy has been restored in Bareilly.

“Currently, the situation in Bareilly is completely normal. Markets are open, traffic is normal, and the police are vigilantly monitoring. The administration says that the situation will return to complete calm in the coming days,” he said in a statement.

A delegation of 14 Samajwadi Party MPs and MLAs who were scheduled to go to Bareilly on Saturday were allegedly stopped at their homes by police, Leader of the Opposition in UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey said.

Pandey, who was to lead the delegation, alleged that police are deployed outside the homes of all SP party workers, he said.

The LoP said they have received two letters, one from the police and another from the Bareilly district magistrate, saying that the SP delegation will “worsen the atmosphere” in the city.

LoP Pandey said, “The circle officer and a senior Local Intelligence Unit officer are here. They are telling me not to go there (Bareilly).”

“What will happen if we go? This was done in the case of Sambhal and Bahraich. When our delegation goes there, we will establish peace there, because this isn’t a communal riot, not a Hindu-Muslim conflict, that our visit will escalate it further,” Pandey said.

Referring to protests in the city last week, Pandey claimed that the Muslim community only wanted to give a letter to authorities (on September 26), but police resorted to excessive force against them.

“The Chief Minister should personally go there to see what went wrong and correct the mistakes that have occurred,” he said.

Pandey added that the Yogi Adityanath government was “stopping them to hide its failures”.

UP minister JPS Rathore, however, said opposition MPs and leaders who want to visit Bareilly are just trying to “vitiate the atmosphere”. The government will not allow anyone to disturb the peace and tranquillity of Bareilly, he said.

Rathore launched a scathing attack on the SP, saying the opposition party’s leaders are now preparing to go to Bareilly “to shed tears for the same rioters, who attempted to kill police and innocent people”.

“For whom are they going to Bareilly? Those who broke the law, threw stones, and attacked the police?” he said, asserting that no innocent people were harmed in police action and that only those who broke the law were sent to jail.

Rathore, who is the minister of state (independent charge) for Cooperation, said opposition parties thought if Bareilly was engulfed in flames, they would gain some political advantage, but the administration's strict action thwarted their plans.

Reacting to the SP delegation’s planned visit to Bareilly, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “The Samajwadi Party wants to stir up the sensitive atmosphere in Bareilly.”

“The government and administration, with patience and restraint, thwarted the conspiracy to incite unrest in the state. The Yogi Adityanath government will not allow any conspiracy to foment communal riots to succeed,” he said.

A team of BDA, around noon, took about three hours to raze the banquet hall, Raza Palace, before sealing the premises.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of District Magistrate Avinash Singh. Led by Superintendent of Police City Manush Parikh, a large contingent of police and PAC personnel cordoned off the locality.

According to officials, electricity to the entire area was cut off before the demolition to prevent any untoward incident.

BDA vice-chairman Manikandan A said that the building was constructed in violation of approved norms.

“The action has been taken strictly according to legal procedure. It is not targeted at any individual,” he asserted.