Photo: Siasat
Nashik: The Maharashtra Police registered a case on Wednesday, February 25, against seven people for allegedly offering namaz inside the Electricity Department office of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation.
A 43-year-old municipal employee, Mahendra Raghunath Sawant, filed the first information report (FIR). According to the FIR, which was later shared on X by former Kirit Somaiya, the accused were booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections related to use of criminal force against a public servant, public nuisance, unlawful assembly, and collective liability. Provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act were also applied.
In his complaint, Sawant stated that two individuals, identified as Salim and Lukman, had come to the office along with four to five others and demanded details regarding streetlights and official registers. He said he informed them that the Electrical Inspector had already taken the streetlights for installation in different wards and that only the inspector could provide precise information about their locations, Siasat Daily reported.
Sawant further claimed that the group initially left but returned later in the evening. He alleged that they announced their intention to offer namaz inside the Electricity Department office and said they would not leave until the streetlights were handed over.
Residents involved in the incident, however, gave a different account. They said they had been called to the office by department officials in the afternoon and were made to wait for several hours. According to them, since the delay overlapped with the time for Asr prayers, they decided to offer namaz inside the office out of concern that leaving the premises might result in the meeting being cancelled.
A video of the incident circulated widely on social media and drew strong reactions from right-wing political figures. Somaiya described it as an illegal act committed in “Hindu Rashtra.”