On Friday (June 23), the police arrested a man for running a madrassa in the garb of a coaching centre in the Deepak Vihar locality in Khoda in the Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, the accused was identified as Shaukat Ali. He ran an unregistered coaching centre named ‘Future Track’ and would teach Islamic scriptures to students.
A police complaint was filed against him by local residents in January this year for a similar offence, following which he closed down the coaching centre. Recently, he reopened the centre and began running a madrassa from the coaching institute.
Reportedly, Shaukat Ali was also using the coaching centre to offer community prayers, despite the fact the institute was being attended by students of other Faiths.
While speaking about the matter, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Chandra Yadav said, “The local residents objected to the religious activities and informed the police. The place was used for offering prayers and there are several videos of the religious activities.
He added, “The coaching centre is also attended by students of different communities. We have registered an FIR and arrested the suspect. Coaching centres cannot be used for offering prayers and other religious activities.”
Another officer from Khoda police station informed that objections were raised by local residents about large gatherings of people for mass prayers at the coaching institute.
On Friday (June 23), Shaukat Ali was arrested by the police and booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion).