Police have registered a case against 50 people, including VHP leaders, former councillors and panchayat heads, for the violence that broke out during protests demanding demolition of illegal parts of a mosque in Sanjauli, Shimla last week.
Fifty people, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders, former councillors and panchayat heads, have been booked for allegedly indulging in violence during a protest in Sanjauli area of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh demanding demolition of an illegal portion of a mosque, police said on Sunday.
According to the police, during this protest on September 11, there was a clash between the policemen and the protesters. The protesters broke the barricades and pelted stones, after which the police had to use water cannons and lathicharge to disperse them. In which about 10 people including police personnel and women were injured.
Giving information about this, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI-Bhasha that call detail records (CDR) of those who instigated the protest have been obtained, on the basis of which more cases will be registered.
The officer said that CCTV footage, videos and photographs are available as evidence in which people can be seen carrying stones in their hands and these stones were thrown at the officers deployed on duty. The officers said that the police have so far identified 50 people and registered eight cases against them, which include VHP leaders, panchayat heads, former councilors and shopkeepers, besides people from Chaupal and Theog areas.
According to the police, the protesters have been booked under sections 196 (1) (promoting enmity on grounds of religion), 196 (2) (offence at place of worship), 189 (unlawful assembly), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy and assault), 353 (2) (spreading false information about religion), 223 (disobedience to orders of public servant) and 132 (assaulting public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (BNS).
The SP said, ‘This was a pre-planned protest to disrupt peace. Those who instigated people on social media regarding this incident have been identified and their actions and conduct show how they were involved in the crime.’
Several videos emerged regarding the incident, in which people were seen throwing stones at the police. He said that in one such video, a person was seen standing on a tempo and inciting people to break the prohibitory orders under section 163 of BNS. According to the police, permission for the protest was not taken in advance. The SP said that two police personnel have suffered serious injuries in the protest, one on the back and the other on the head, and those guilty for this will be dealt with strictly as per the law.
Let us tell you that amid tension in Shimla over the Sanjauli Mosque issue, last Thursday a Muslim welfare committee has offered to demolish the illegal part of the mosque itself.
