11 arrested in UP village after video of men offering namaaz on government land goes viral

Yadav’s son Shiv Kumar said that a dispute over the government land was ongoing and that the district administration and police had prohibited any activities there. “Without our knowledge, a group of people held a prayer on Eid (June 17). We found out about it when the video of the prayer went viral the next day. The police arrested my father for not stopping them from offering the prayer,” he said. Yadav was a first-time pradhan.

Over the last few months, tension had been brewing in the Muslim-dominated Turkaha village as two groups attempted to capture the government land. While one group of Muslim villagers wanted to build an Eidgah, the other group of Hindu villagers wanted to construct a marriage hall. Proposals to build both were sent to the district administration but were rejected, said SP Dhawal.

A senior official of the revenue department had also recently directed the local police station to ensure that no one attempted to capture the government land.

“Since tension was brewing between the two groups in the village, the police held a meeting with members of both communities in April this year. A written agreement was made that no activities would take place on the government land,” said Kumar.

Upon learning that a group of people had allegedly offered namaaz on the government land, the local police conducted a preliminary inquiry and lodged a first information report (FIR) against 11 people at Khadda police station.

The case against the accused was filed under Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code, said Jitendra Tandon, Station House Officer, Khadda police station.

The accused were arrested on June 20 and action against the three policemen was also taken on the same day.