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‘They went to buy medicine…’, ‘he was asleep’: Families of five men arrested for violence during demolition in Old Delhi
Violence erupted after bulldozers started razing illegal structures on public land around the Faiz-e-Elahi Mosque after midnight on Tuesday.
Men stand at the entrance of Syed Faiz Elahi mosque amid debris after demolition of alleged encroachments on land adjoining the mosque by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in the Turkman Gate area of New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
Mohammad Areeb’s sister was searching for her brother in the early hours of Wednesday when she learnt that he had been arrested in connection with the violence that broke out during the demolition drive near Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque at Turkman Gate in Central Delhi.
Speaking to The Indian Express, she said Areeb runs a café near Jama Masjid and had been returning home around 2.30 am after closing it for the night. “He was supposed to pick up some milk and groceries on his way back,” she said.
She said Areeb had called her twice — once at 2.45 am and again around 2.50 am — telling her he would be home in a few minutes.
On Wednesday evening, the family waited outside Turkman Gate police station, hoping for news. Areeb’s elder brother said: “We run the café together. He was with me till 2.30 am. We left at the same time — I went straight home, while he stayed back to buy groceries.”
Post midnight Tuesday, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi moved in with bulldozers to raze encroachments next to the mosque after the Delhi High Court declined a plea for an interim stay on its proposed action. Violence erupted about half an hour after bulldozers started razing the illegal structures on public land around the Faiz-e-Elahi Mosque. Some 30-35 people who had gathered there raised slogans and threw stones. Five men were arrested.
In Chandni Mahal, the younger sister of one of the arrested men, Sameer, alleged: “He had attended a wedding near Mahila Haat and returned around 11.30 pm… He went to bed. Around 2.30 am, police came, pulled him out of bed, and took him away.”
His “only mistake”, she claimed, was “sharing a video asking people to gather near the mosque”. Sameer works in a photo framing shop in Daryaganj.
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Nearby, in Gali Gariyan, two brothers — Mohammad Kashif and Mohammad Kaif — were picked up by the police from near their home, said their family. “The brothers had gone out to get medicine for their mother because she was coughing. They were picked up by the police then…,” a member of the family, who gave his name as Aadib, said.
“Both boys are well educated and employed. They have been running the family since their father died 13 years ago,” he added.
Police officers said Kaif is preparing for chartered accountancy exams, and his elder brother Kashif works at Safdarjung Hospital.
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