A case has been registered against three people in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandsahr after a purported video went viral on social media. The video demonstrates a man offering Namaz inside a Hanuman temple at a village, the officials said on Wednesday.
The incident, as per the police, unfolded on May 31 in the village under the Aurangabad police station area, where the man identified as Asar Mohammad, along with his associate Nazar Mohammad and others, visited the house of a Hindu man identified as Rajkumar to work as masons.
The sequence of the incident started when, after working, Asar Mohammad allegedly offered Namaz during an interlude in which he offered Namaz inside the temple amidst light rain. Meanwhile, Nazar Mohammad was present while the former was offering namaz.
The video of the incident later went viral on the internet, bringing it to light and garnering opposition from the villagers. Subsequently, an investigation was conducted, during which police found the event to be prima facie correct.
The police said that the act was aimed at insulting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community by desecrating a place of worship. Meanwhile, Aurangabad SSO Mohammad Aslam said that an FIR has been lodged and investigation is underway.
The incident comes ahead of another controversial incident in Bulandshahr, where people were allegedly being prevented from offering prayers outside the Eidghah mosque.
The incident started when worshippers complained to Hoshiyar Singh and Sunil Charora that the police were not allowing them to offer prayer.
“Eid namaz was being offered at the Jahangirabad town Eidgah. By 07:30 AM, the Eidgah was completely full, and the namaz was being performed standing. After 07:30 AM, some worshippers, led by former MLA and Samajwadi Party leader Shri Hoshiyar Singh and Mukesh Sharma, Jahangirabad Block Pramukh Shri Manoj Khalaour, and other leaders, began attempting to break through the barricading and move forward,” Bulandshahr police said.
“They were stopped at the scene by Sub-Divisional Magistrate Anupshahr Shri Vikas Pratap Singh Chauhan and the police force. The former MLA introduced himself, and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Anupshahr spoke to him respectfully, considering his age and status as a public representative, and explained the situation to him,” police added.
“He was continuously inciting and provoking the people present there. The sub-divisional magistrate, Anupshahr, and the police force firmly stopped him and persuaded the worshippers present to proceed to the front mosque to offer namaz,” police said.
Former Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Chaudhry Hoshiyar Singh and District Panchayat Member Sunil Charora accused the police of creating commotion. Meanwhile, CO Vikas Chauhan denied the allegations and said that the former MLA attempted to incite people and create a disturbing atmosphere. The incident, however, also garnered outrage on social media.
