By Neetika Jha
There are no customers in the markets, some homes in the area are shut, the families of many of those arrested are fearful, with at least one claiming they haven’t been to meet the accused, and there have been fervent appeals for the administration to at least stop demolishing residences.
When The Indian Express reached Bareilly Wednesday, five days after clashes erupted over the “I Love Muhammad” row, a palpable sense of unease pervaded lanes and markets in the areas affected by the violence. At Old City, “I Love Muhammad” banners and posters hung between houses or were pasted on the gates and walls of homes. The areas near Noumahla Masjid and Ala Hazrat Dargah were under heavy police cover.
The police said they had arrested nine more associates of Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Khan — including two who were shot in the leg in another “shootout” — for their alleged role in the violent protests on September 26. The latest arrests took the total number of those held over the violence to 82.
Tauqeer, accused of “masterminding” the clashes that erupted after Friday prayers, was arrested on Saturday. On Tuesday, IMC district president Tazim was arrested after an “encounter” during which he was shot in the leg. Bareilly SP Anurag Arya identified the duo targeted in Wednesday’s “encounter” as Shahjahanpur residents Mohammed Idris alias Bora (50) and Iqbal alias Bundan Khan (48).
The Opposition, meanwhile, slammed the Yogi Adityanath government’s handling of the situation, saying it did “not want peace”. “All they want is to hype the issue and create propaganda around it. You can see this in Sambhal and now here in Bareilly. The Yogi government wants to divert attention from Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of vote theft,” said UP Congress chief Ajay Rai.
Congress MP from Saharanpur, Imran Masood, claimed he was placed under house arrest ahead of his visit to Bareilly. Saharanpur police denied the claim, saying they deployed personnel around the MP’s house and that of SP MLC Shahnawaz Khan following law and order inputs. Saharanpur (City) SP, Vyom Bindal, said, “We have not put him under house arrest but have just deployed our forces.”
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.