Delhi Demolition Drive: Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Mohibbullah Nadvi is under scanner after clashes and stone pelting near Faiz-e-Elahi Masjid near Turkman Gate in Delhi.
Delhi Police will send a summons to join the investigation in which five people have already been arrested, news agency ANI said quoting sources. Nadvi was present at the spot before the violence and despite repeated requests by senior Delhi Police officials, he remained in the vicinity, the agency said.
“In a preliminary investigation, it has come to light that he was present there, but had left by the time the demolition began. This is being investigated,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Central Range) Madhur Verma told news agency PTI earlier.
Nadvi, an MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur Lok Sabha Constituency, is also the Imam of Parliament Street mosque.
What happened at Faiz-e-Elahi Mosque?
An anti-encroachment drive near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday triggered violence as many people pelted stones at police personnel, injuring five of them, including the area’s station house officer.
Police used force and lobbed teargas shells to quell the protest. Four people were arrested and a juvenile was apprehended. Police also said 10 to 15 people have been detained.
While Mohd Arib (25), Mohd Kaif (23), Mohd Kashif (25) and Mohd Hamid (30) were arrested, a 17-year-old boy was nabbed. CCTV footage and videos circulating on social media are being analyzed to identify the others involved in the violence, the police said.
Trouble brewed when a social media post claimed the mosque, opposite the Turkman Gate, was being demolished during the anti-encroachment drive, and people started gathering there, police sources said.
In a preliminary investigation, it has come to light that he was present there, but had left by the time the demolition began.
They claimed that 150 to 200 people were involved in the pelting of stones and glass bottles at the police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) workers.
The demolition by MCD, assisted by police, was earlier scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM on 7 January, but commenced at around 1:30 AM.
The demolition drive was carried out despite the Delhi High Court issuing a notice on a petition filed by the managing committee of Faiz-e-Elahi Masjid on Tuesday. The petition challenged the MCD decision to remove alleged encroachments from land adjoining the mosque and the graveyard at Ramlila Maidan.
A bench headed by Justice Amit Bansal noted that the matter required consideration, directed the MCD and the Land & Development Office (L&DO) to file their replies, and posted the matter for hearing on 22 April.
