PUNE/MUMBAI, 24 November 2007 — The situation in Gultekdi and northern suburb of Pune was still tense but under control following sporadic incidents of road blocking, stoning and arson by a angry mob of more than 500 Muslims protesting the demolition of illegal portions of Gani Baba Mosque in Gultekdi area by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday morning.
The police yesterday arrested Allaudin Naim Shaikh, Munna Yaqub Shaikh and Nazir Kader Patel, all residents of Gultekdi, in the incident and booked around 150 people for rioting and arson in Salisbury Park and Swargate areas. The Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and Pune Commissioner of Police Jayant Umranikar appealed to citizens to maintain peace and desist from spreading and acting on rumors.
Usman Hiroli, a former city municipal councilor who claimed to have been present during the time of demolition, alleged that the structures of the mosque were demolished without any intimation to the mosque trustees. The attitude of the police was very light and this had enraged the Muslims, he said.
The demolition of the mosque structures has now become a political issue. The Republican Party of India (RPI) has come out in protest against the demolition, saying that it had hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community.
Heavy police reinforcement have been deployed at the trouble spots. Meanwhile the PMC and the police are playing the blame game. Even as the northern suburbs remain tense, there was no law and order problem in other parts of the city, thanks to police’s precautionary measures.
The city police commissioner said that the police were kept on state of high alert, but expressed surprise over PMC’s inaction against encroachers until now, despite being directed to do so by the Bombay High Court in 2006.
He suspected the civic body for delaying the action, influenced by some individual interests. When the matter came up again before the Bombay High Court, the PMC blamed the police for the delay, accusing them of not providing police protection for removing the encroachments, Umranikar said.
The court then asked the police to provide protection to the PMC officials, but the court demolition order does not pertain to other religious structures, he clarified.
Uttar Pradesh Police Arrive in Mumbai
A large posse of Uttar Pradesh policemen landed in Mumbai yesterday for the security of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, ahead of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rally at Shivaji Park, Dadar, tomorrow.
So far, the Mumbai police had been handling the security needs of chief ministers from various states visiting Mumbai. But it is for the first time that a heavy police contingent from another state has been deployed for the security of Mayawati.
K.L. Prasad, the Mumbai’s joint commissioner of police (law and order) confirmed the presence of the large number of policemen from Uttar Pradesh in the city, but declined to reveal the number.
