Six arrested for disrupting namaz

GURUGRAM: Six people were sent to judicial custody on Thursday for allegedly threatening and preventing a group of Muslims from offering Friday prayers at a plot of land in sector 43 on April 20, police said.

The action came on a complaint in which it was alleged that provocative slogans were raised by a group of eight men, who also threatened the devotees of dire consequences if they did not leave the area.

The police said a case was reg- istered at Sector 53.

“All the accused were identified from a video shot by one of the accused and uploaded on social media. Six of them were arrested on Wednesday and they were to judicial custody on Thursday. The remaining two will also be nabbed soon,” said Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurugram police.

The accused were identified as Arun Kumar, Manish, Deepak Kumar and Monu from Wazirabad village, and Mohit Kumar and Ravinder Kumar from Kanhai village.

Haji Shehzad Khan, a resi- dent of Palam Vihar, and head of Nehru Yuva Sanghatan, in his complaint to the police said they have been offering namaz on a vacant piece of land in sector 43, in front of the gate number 1 of Ardee City, for the past 10 years. Every Friday, around 400 to 500 men gather at the spot to offer namaz as the city has few mosques, Khan said in his complaint.

“A group of young men had come to the spot around 20 days ago and threatened us against praying at the plot. We did not react to their provocations and they returned. However, last Friday the group came again and started shouting religious slogans and prevented worshippers from offering namaz. There was a heated exchange between the two sides but we ensured it did not blow up further,” said Khan.

Apprehending trouble during Friday prayers on April 27, the members of the community reported the matter to the police on Wednesday after which a case was registered.

“The police have taken prompt action but there is need to ensure that such things are not repeated in future,” he said.