Hundreds in Bareilly for cleric’s burial

LUCKNOW: The police and administrative officials remained on their es on Saturday managing hun-dreds of people who reached bareilly to get the final glimpse of he head cleric of Dargah-e-Ala azrat, Akhtar Raza Khan. Akhtar Raza, who headed the Barelvi Dargah, breathed his last t his residence on Friday. He was 2. With huge rush of people eaching the city, many waited in ng queues for hours to get a glimpse of the revered cleric. The queues which emerged from han’s residence near the main dargah stretched to different parts of the city. Witnesses said the unending queues of devotees waiting to see their religious head continued till late night.

Local markets in the area remained closed to facilitate easy movement of people in the city. “Over one lakh people have seen Hazrat (Akhtar Raza) so far and equal number are expected to reach here by Sunday,” said Mufti Salim Noori, spokesperson of the Dargah,

Akhtar was the direct descendent of renowned Muslim scholar Ahmed Raza Khan whose Dargah is considered as the most revered shrine for the followers of Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims.

Considering the crowd, the local administration has made arrangement for security, sanitation and drinking water for people who are arriving here to participate in the last rites.

“We are in touch with the representatives of the Dargah to ensure all arrangements are taken care of,” said Virendra Kumar Singh, district magistrate, Bareilly.