39 people, including Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan, head of Ittehad-e-Millat Parishad, have been arrested by the police in connection with violent clashes after prayers on Friday. Senior officials gave this information. He informed that internet service has been discontinued in Bareilly for the next 48 hours from Saturday and messages will not be sent to Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube.
Meanwhile, sources in Bareilly Central Jail-2 said that Tauqir Raza was transferred to Fatehgarh Central Jail in Farrukhabad district. Bareilly Central Prison-2 was earlier known as Bareilly District Jail.
On Saturday, Bareilly District Magistrate (DM) Avinash Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anurag Arya told in a joint press conference that eight miscreants, including Maulana Tauqir Raza, the chief conspirator of the uproar in Bareilly, were produced in the court, from where they have been sent to jail for 14 days in judicial custody.
The police have accused Tauqir Raza Khan of inciting violence with his inflammatory speech on Friday. The SSP said that on the provocation of Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan, crowds of youth gathered on the streets, causing an atmosphere of ‘chaos’ from Khalil Tiraha to Islamia Maidan.
Seven other people sent to jail along with Tauqir Raza Khan include Sarfaraz, Manifuddin, Azim Ahmed, Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Aamir, Rehan and Mohammad Sarfaraz. The SSP claimed that Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan was under surveillance since Friday. Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan allegedly spent the party leader and his friend Farhat’s house on Friday night, while his supporters were told that he had left for Delhi.
A police team led by Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Akmal Khan formally arrested Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan and was taken to a safe place. On Saturday morning, he was produced in the court amid tight security and was later sent to jail. Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya said that after the violent clashes in Bareilly, the police team has initiated the action.
He said that ten cases have been registered against 180 nominees and 2,500 unidentified rioters, including Maulana Taukeer and 2,500 unidentified rioters, including Maulana Taukeer, for inciting violence in various police stations of the city, sabotage, riot, stone pelting and religious sentiments in various police stations of the city, under various sections.
Police arrested 39 rioters from Friday night to Saturday. Eight rioters, including Maulana Tauqir, were sent to jail on Saturday. Arya said that internet service has been discontinued in Bareilly for the next 48 hours from Saturday, so that messages will not be sent to Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube.
Tauqir Raza arrested a day after tension in Bareilly, where after Friday prayers, a large crowd clashed with the poster of ‘I Love Muhammad’ outside a mosque in Kotwali area. Tauqir Raza Khan has been politically active for more than two decades and has some influence in Bareilly and adjoining districts.
Tauqir Raza Khan is also a descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan, the founder of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam. In the past, the police has taken action against them in many disputed cases. Earlier, SSP Anurag Arya had told reporters, ‘Tauqir Raza Khan has been taken into custody and advance legal action is being taken. The situation in Bareilly is peaceful and under control.
According to sources, before being taken into police custody, Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan released a video statement on Friday night in which the official/government statements related to the clashes in Bareilly were denied and alleged that he was not able to address his supporters.
Violence erupted in Bareilly on Friday when a huge crowd gathered in support of the ‘I Love Mohammed’ campaign after Namaz. In his video, Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan congratulated the people who attended the performance. He said, ‘… I congratulate the youth participating in it.’
My fake letterhead was used- Maulana
After the Namaz, he regretted his plan to hand over a letter to the President about the problems of Muslims through the District Magistrate, ‘He was put under house arrest by the police at home. That is why I stayed at my friend’s house since last night. He alleged, ‘My fake letterhead was used and a false statement was published.’
Tauqir Raza Khan said that the District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police arrived at his house when he was about to leave for Namaz and called the police force and made him under house arrest.
He warned, ‘Efforts to suppress religious sentiments will vomit. The more the police try to suppress the case, the more it emerges. If an attempt will be made to stop religious matters, no one will sit silent.
Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan said, ‘If I had gone to offer prayers, nothing like this would have happened. Muslims were deliberately run sticks and they have been accused.
He said, ‘I am under house arrest. I will be happy if I am arrested. Just like Atik was shot, shoot me as well. But the government should take care of Uttar Pradesh and the country.
He accused the police, ‘If this is the way of the police, then the situation in the country is expected to deteriorate. I do not want the atmosphere of my country and my city to be bad. This time there was no Hindu-Muslim quarrel, the police themselves harmed the public and tortured the Muslims.
This statement of Tauqir Raza Khan came after District Magistrate Avinash Singh and Deputy Inspector General Ajay Kumar Sahni said that violence in Bareilly was the result of a ‘planned conspiracy’.