Day After Booking 16 Men, UP Police Expunges FIR Over 'Mass Namaz at Home'

The Moradabad Police had booked 16 people for offering namaz together in a house 'without taking prior permission'.

The incident took place at Dulhepur village under Chhajlet police station limits in Uttar Pradesh.

(Photo: Video screenshot)

A day after facing flak, the Moradabad Police in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, 30 August, expunged the FIR registered in a case against 16 people for allegedly offering 'mass namaaz' in a house without seeking prior permission from authorities.

Moradabad Senior Superintendent of Police Hemant Kutiyal said that after a detailed probe, they found the allegations to be baseless and therefore the investigation was being closed.

The incident took place at Dulhepur village under Chhajlet police station limits in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh.

"There was a complaint registered over mass namaz. After an intensive investigation, it was found that the allegations were completely baseless," Moradabad SSP Hemant Kutiyal said.

The Case

The Moradabad Police had registered a case against 16 people for offering namaz together in a house without taking prior permission from authorities.

Some members of the Hindu community said that two persons, Wahid and Mustakim, had been offering namaz in their homes with "several people," following which a complaint was filed against them.

"Scores of people assembled at the house of two local villagers in Dulhepur village in the Chhajlet area without any notice and offered prayers. They had been cautioned in the past not to indulge in such a practice at home, following objections from neighbours belonging to another community," the Superintendent of Police, Sandeep Kumar Meena, said on Monday.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the police had filed a case against 16 people under Section 505-2 (statement conducing to public mischief in an assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship) of the Indian Penal Code.