Offering namaz on govt property: 28 booked for rioting, trespass & hurting religious sentiments in UP

Lakhimpur Kheri, UP: The police on Sunday booked twenty-eight persons, three named and other unnamed, for 'rioting' and 'criminal trespass' for allegedly installing loudspeakers and offering mass prayers on a state government property in the Kashi Ram area of Lakhimpur Kheri.

The FIR was registered after a purported video of people offering 'namaz' in the building complex went viral on social media and a complaint was lodged by a local right-wing activist, Ramgopal Pandey, at the Sadar Kotwali police station.

Police have named Mohammed Adil, Jumman Khan and Nisha Khan along with 25 other unidentified persons in the FIR and slapped sections 447 (criminal trespass), 147 (rioting) and 298 (deliberate intentions of hurting religious sentiments) of IPC against them.

The accused are absconding, the police said.

According to complainant Ramgopal Pandey, "There is a vocational school for children in the Kashi Ram colony which was built by the state. It was encroached upon by some people of a particular faith to offer namaz. They have hurt our religious sentiments. We want strict action against them."

Circle officer, Sadar Sandeep Singh, said, "We have sent the video clips to a forensic lab for verification and are awaiting the report. The accused will be identified with the support of evidence gathered so far. Notices will be served to them to join the investigation."

With inputs from agencies