Mob barges into mosque in Gurgaon village, beats up worshippers; cops book 8-10 persons

Police said they sent staff to the mosque to pacify the mob and increased security in the area.

On Thursday, police were deployed in the area to maintain law and order. Harinder Kumar, ACP (Pataudi), said, “The families built a small mosque years ago which led to a small fight between two communities. We controlled the situation and registered an FIR. The accused persons, around 8 to 10, are on the run. We are talking to both communities and trying to resolve the matter. Nobody was seriously injured.”

Locals said the mosque caters to 150-200 persons from the village.

Village sarpanch Yajvinder Sharma said he was aware of the repair work. “It’s their private property, none of the Hindus care about that. There are only a few miscreants who do all this because they feel Muslim families might build a bigger mosque and invite people from outside… I was working when I received a call from villagers and rushed to the spot. Men and women were arguing. There was no violence…”

Imran Khan, a resident, said they had hired labourers this week to repair the roof and carry out renovation. “We built the mosque using our money on our land. Last night, I tried explaining this to the men who vandalised our mosque, but they didn’t care. They said we were encroaching on land to make the mosque bigger.”

Nasir Hussain (19), who studies in Gurgaon, claimed that a mob had barged into the mosque in 2013 too. “Since then, my uncles and I take turns to lead the prayers. I was inside when the men came around 11 am and threatened to lock up the place, hurling abuses. Around 8 pm, they came again but this time they had weapons. They vandalised the place, broke the chairs,” he alleged.