Mob attacks mosque in Gurugram, beats up worshippers and locked them inside
A mosque in Gurgaon’s Bhora Kalan village saw a mob allegedly enter the premises, claiming that there had been an attempt to expand the structure under the garb of renovations. Locals, meanwhile, alleged they had been receiving threats ever since repairs started last week, and that worshippers were assaulted by the mob of roughly 200 on Wednesday.
Police said they have booked 8-10 persons from the village under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 295A (malicious acts to outrage religious feelings), 323 (causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation). No arrest has been made so far.
The FIR registered based on the complaint of a retired Army man from the village, Nazar Mohd, alleges that the mob barged into the mosque twice on Wednesday. “Around 200 people surrounded us and entered. We were threatened to leave the village. We have only four Muslim families in the village. Every day we are harassed… Tonight, while we were offering namaz inside the prayer hall, some people attacked the worshipers, injuring them… They also put a lock on the place, and they had guns. We request police protection,” states the FIR.
Police said they sent staff to the mosque to pacify the mob and increased security in the area.
On Thursday, police were deployed in the area to maintain law and order. Harinder Kumar, ACP (Pataudi), said, “The families built a small mosque years ago which led to a small fight between two communities. We controlled the situation and registered an FIR. The accused persons, around 8 to 10, are on the run. We are talking to both communities and trying to resolve the matter. Nobody was seriously injured.”
Locals said the mosque caters to 150-200 persons from the village.
Village sarpanch Yajvinder Sharma said he was aware of the repair work. “It’s their private property, none of the Hindus care about that. There are only a few miscreants who do all this because they feel Muslim families might build a bigger mosque and invite people from outside… I was working when I received a call from villagers and rushed to the spot. Men and women were arguing. There was no violence…”
Imran Khan, a resident, said they had hired labourers this week to repair the roof and carry out renovation. “We built the mosque using our money on our land. Last night, I tried explaining this to the men who vandalised our mosque, but they didn’t care. They said we were encroaching on land to make the mosque bigger.”
Nasir Hussain (19), who studies in Gurgaon, claimed that a mob had barged into the mosque in 2013 too. “Since then, my uncles and I take turns to lead the prayers. I was inside when the men came around 11 am and threatened to lock up the place, hurling abuses. Around 8 pm, they came again but this time they had weapons. They vandalised the place, broke the chairs,” he alleged.
