Mukhtar Baba, the owner of Baba Biriyani who was arrested on Wednesday for funding the Kanpur violence that erupted on June 3, has told the SIT that the stone pelters were offered Rs 500-1000 to indulge in violence. He also revealed how the entire plan to stoke communal violence in the streets of Kanpur over Nupur Sharma’s alleged ‘blasphemous’ remark, was hatched at his shop.
During his interrogation, Mukhtar Baba said that the June 3rd violence, wherein a mob of radical Islamists had unleashed mayhem on the streets of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was pre-planned. He claimed that various responsibilities had been assigned to 15–16 youths tasked with organising the violence.
He further revealed how the organisers sat in his shop and watched the entire act of violence live on a video call. According to reports, during interrogation by SIT team in charge, Sanjeev Tyagi, Mukhtar Baba also gave several new names of miscreants who actively helped engineer the Kanpur violence.
It may be recalled that reports had also revealed that the children, who were used in the violence for stone-pelting and throwing petrol bombs were paid money and served biryani to take part in it. Following these reports, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asked the Police to investigate the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Baba Biryani owner Mukhtar Baba fed biryani to rioters and stone pelters
Notably, the Kanpur Police had nabbed Mukhtar Baba who was absconding since June 3, on June 21. Mukhtar Ansari had reportedly crowdfunded the violence and given huge amounts of money to Zafar Hayat Hashmi, the prime accused in the case. Reports mention that Mukhtar Baba, on the day of violence had also fed the rioters and stone-pelters with Biryani. However, his son Mahmood while talking to OpIndia refused to accept the claims.
Some of the local leaders meanwhile reported that Baba Biryani is illegally built on land that actually belongs to a temple and that Mukhtar and his accomplices had been plotting violence for a long time to maintain their illegal occupation.
According to the government records, the land on which the restaurant stands today belongs to the Ram-Janki temple. The main temple and 18 other Hindu shops were reportedly razed down to build the present Biryani restaurant.
Kanpur Violence
Days after BJP Spokeswoman Nupur Sharma received death threats for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’ against Prophet Muhammad, severe violence erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district with Islamists giving a call for a shutdown in the area to protest against Sharma. The protest turned violent as hundreds of Islamists joined the protest after the Friday prayers and began pelting stones at the Police and the civilians.
The Police later arrested more than 40 miscreants in the issue and razed down illegal properties owned by prime accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi and his associates. The Police also found incriminating chats from Hashmi’s phone and probed his bank accounts to trace the funds received from the Gulf countries to allegedly back the violence.