Gurugram Namaz Row: Police Arrest Dinesh Bharti, Head of Hindu Right-Wing Outfit

People gathered in Gurugram's Sector 37 on Friday, 3 December, to protest against namaz being offered at the site.

(Photo: Video Screengrab /The Quint)

The Gurugram Police on Friday, 3 December, arrested one member of a Hindu right-wing outfit, hours after a group of men attempted to disrupt Friday prayers by the Muslim community in Sector 37.

At least 11 people had been detained in the afternoon.

Gurugram Police PRO Subhash Boken told The Quint, "One man, identified as Dinesh Bharti, has been arrested. He has also been sent to judicial custody. This arrest has been done as a preventive measure."

Bharti, a businessman, leads a right-wing outfit called "Bharat Mata Vahini," and has been at the forefront of these anti-namaz protests in Gurugram since September.

In a video that emerged from the Sector 37 site on Friday, Bharti can be seen running up to a maulvi, trying to stand in his way, and shouting, "namaz nahi hogi yaha, namaz nahi hogi yaha, namaz nahi hogi yaha."

Two Gurugram police personnel removed him from the spot, and he was detained along with ten others.

On being asked what IPC sections have been invoked in the case, PRO Boken said that Bharti has been "arrested as a preventive measure."

In a bid to disrupt prayers at the site, several protesters had parked their trucks citing "parking issues" earlier in the day. Despite repeated requests from the police, the protesters did not leave from the namaz site.

Around noon, several members of right-wing Hindu organisations gathered at the site, and could be seen arguing with police personnel. In a video, a protester can be heard saying that they will not move even if they get arrested and that the police should not try to "intimidate peaceful protesters."

Since September, members of Hindu right-wing groups have been disrupting Friday prayers by the Muslim community in open spaces in Gurugram, despite these being sites designated by the government for this purpose.

The disruptions and attempted disruptions on 3 December are a continuation of the same.

On 30 November, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had submitted a complaint to DCP West Deepak Saharan against three leaders of Hindu right-wing organisations.

So far, the police has not filed an FIR on the basis of the complaint. Despite repeated attempts, Saharan did not respond to calls from The Quint.