Shimla mosque dispute: VHP leaders, ex-councillors among those booked for violent protest

Shimla: VHP leaders, former councillors and chief of panchayats were among 50 people booked for violence during a protest that was held here last week demanding the demolition of an illegal portion of a mosque in the Sanjauli area, police said on Sunday.

Protesters clashed with security personnel on September 11, breaking barricades and pelting stones as police used water cannons and batons to disperse them. About 10 people, including police and women, were injured.

Call detail records of people who instigated the protest have been gathered and more cases will be registered, the Superintendent of Police of Shimla Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told the PTI.

"There is CCTV footage, video and photograph evidence of people carrying stones in their hands that were thrown at officers on duty," the officer said.

The 50 people who police identified and registered eight cases so far include leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), panchayat chiefs and their deputies, former councillors and shopkeepers, besides people from Chopal and Theog, officials said.

The protesters have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 196 (1) (promoting enmity on basis of religion); 196(2) (offence at place of worship); 189 (unlawful assembly); 126(2) (wrongful restraint); 61(2) (criminal conspiracy and assault); 353 (2) (spreading false information on religion); 223 (disobeying orders of public servants; and 132 (assaulting public servant).

"It was a pre-planned protest to disturb the peace. Those who provoked the whole incident on social media have been identified and their act and conduct endorse how they participated in the crime," the SP said.

"In a video, a person was seen standing on a tempo and provoking the people to break the prohibitory order under section 163 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). We did not receive any application seeking permission to protest," he said.

The SP said two police personnel sustained serious injuries, with one on the back and another on the head, and those guilty of it would be dealt with strictly as per the law.

Amid tension in Shimla over the Sanjauli mosque issue, a Muslim welfare committee last Thursday offered to demolish the unauthorised part while members of the community themselves pulled down a wall of a mosque in government land in Mandi.

A delegation of the welfare committee during a representation to Shimla Municipal Commissioner Bhupendra Attri said Muslims living in the locality are permanent residents of Himachal Pradesh and it was taking the step to preserve harmony and brotherhood.

"We have sought permission from the Shimla municipal commissioner to demolish the unauthorised part of the mosque situated in Sanjauli," member of the welfare committee Mufti Mohammad Shafi Kasmi said.

Members of the Dev Bhoomi Sangarh Committee who had given the protest call against the unauthorised construction in the mosque welcomed the move.

"We welcome the move of the Muslim community and would be the first to hug them for taking this initiative in the larger interest," member of the samiti Vijay Sharma had said.