Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police has lodged an FIR on unidentified people who performed Namaz inside the Lulu Mall in Lucknow, based on the submission by the mall management. The FIR was lodged in Sushant Golf City police station on Thursday night, Hindustan Times reported.
The station in charge of Sushant Golf City in Lucknow, Ajay Pratap Singh, told ANI that Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha's Shishir Chaturvedi filed a complaint about the incident. He added that appropriate action would be initiated after a probe.
The FIR was lodged under sections 153 A(1) (promoting enmity by words, either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations on the grounds of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting religion or religious beliefs), 341 (wrongfully restraining any person) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
The mall management informed that an internal inquiry suggested that employees had no involvement in the incident.
According to police, a viral video on social media featured a group of people offering Namaz inside the mall on Tuesday. They are checking the CCTV footage inside the mall to identify the people who performed Namaz.
Namaz inside the newly inaugurated Lulu Mall in Lucknow has irked the right-wing Hindutva outfit Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha. The organisation had issued a warning that if Namaz is offered there again, it will unleash protest by reciting Sundar Kand.