An FIR was filed on Monday against unidentified persons for breaching Covid protocols at the funeral of Badaun’s Shahar Imam, Hazrat Abdul Hameed Mohammad Salimul Qadri, who died at his home early on Sunday. In photographs and a video clip that are now doing the rounds on social media, people are seen violating distancing guidelines and a majority of mourners are not wearing masks. The FIR has been registered under IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), police said, adding that the Epidemic Diseases Act has also been invoked. No one has been arrested. “People in large numbers started coming to his residence. Announcements were made from the mosque to avoid gathering but people kept streaming in,” said Kotwali SHO Devendra Singh Dhama. Additional Director General of Police, Bareilly zone, Avinash Chandra said the police had briefed locals on the guidelines in the morning and were assured compliance.
