UP Police Book Over 2,000 People For Offering Eid Namaz On Roads

In Uttar Pradesh, at least six FIRs have been filed over the past week in relation to offering of namaz on the roads during Eid on 22 April.

These FIRs were filed against multiple unidentified individuals and local Eidgah committee members in Kanpur, Hapur, and Aligarh.

The state police are now trying to identify those offering namaz on streets to take further action.

In Kanpur, the police have filed three FIRs against unidentified people and members of the Eidgah committee at three separate locations - Babupurwa, Jajmau, and Bajaria.

The first case has been lodged against 40-50 unidentified people and the Eidgah committee members.

The second case filed at the Jajmau police station is against 200-300 unknown people and the Intezamia Eidgah committee.

The third case at Bajaria has been filed against the Eidgah committee members and 1,000-1,500 unidentified people.

“The cases will be investigated. So far, no one has been identified. The cases were lodged for offering namaz in the open,” Kanpur Police Commissioner Bhagirath P Jogdand was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

All three FIRS in Kanpur were registered on Thursday (27 April) under multiple IPC sections on the basis of complaints from officers stationed at respective police stations.

The IPC sections include 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty).

The FIR lodged at Bajaria was based on a complaint made by Senior Sub-Inspector Omveer Singh.

Singh stated that he was on duty to ensure a peaceful Eid namaz. Prior to the festival, meetings were held with peace committee and Eidgah committee members to emphasise that namaz must be offered inside the mosque and Eidgah.

"Everyone was made aware that namaz must be offered inside the mosque and Eidgah," Singh was quoted as saying by IE.

According to the complaint, required police force was deployed during the Eid celebrations. Namazis were informed by the police that it was prohibited to offer namaz on the street and that if anyone missed the Eid namaz due to the crowd they would have another opportunity to perform it.

Despite this, shortly before 8:30 am, when the namaz was supposed to be performed, people started attempting to offer namaz on the street. They were instructed to proceed to a nearby graveyard.

However, before the namaz was due to commence, approximately 1000-1500 people began offering namaz on the road in front of the Eidgah, which was not initially halted due to the need to maintain law and order.

The complaint alleged that CrPC Section 144 was breached and that people were obstructing traffic on the road.

Policemen at Babupurwa and Jajmau stations filed similar complaints.

An FIR was filed in Hapur district on 23 April against 200-250 unidentified individuals for praying on the road near Eidgah.

An FIR has been filed against the Eidgah committee members for obstructing government work and violating CrPC Section 144.

Sanjay Kumar Pandey, the SHO of Hapur Nagar Police Station, was quoted by IE as saying that the FIR has also made the committee members accused for failing to organise Namaz inside the Eidgah.

“We have identified 20-25 people among the accused. They will face arrest. For now, we are identifying the accused,” he said.

Aligarh police have also registered two FIRs against unknown individuals for conducting namaz on the road during the prohibition orders on 21 and 22 April.

The police officials have been gathering CCTV footage from the areas where the namaz was held.

On Tuesday night, FIRs were filed at Kotwali and Delhi Gate police stations in Aligarh town regarding the infringement of Section 144 and other IPC sections. The perpetrators are being indentified through CCTV footage to take necessary action, according to Aligarh SP city Kuldeep Singh.

According to the police, peace committee meetings were held before Ramzan and locals were advised not to offer namaz on roads due to CrPC Section 144.