A video went viral on social media on Monday (16 September 2024) from Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. In this video, a Muslim mob raised pro-Palestinian slogans at the pandal of Lord Ganesha in the Muslim-dominated Utraula market. A person caught by the police during the agitation was also freed by some people in the crowd. OpIndia had prominently reported this incident just a few hours after the incident. Now, the Balrampur police has registered an FIR and arrested 16 anti-social elements of the Muslim community involved in this incident. The investigation of the case is still going on.
After the video went viral, the Balrampur police had registered a case against unknown accused in Utraula police station under sections 170, 126 and 135 of the Indian Penal Code (BNS). The accused were identified by collecting several evidences, including CCTV and other video footage. A total of 16 accused were identified in the first phase. On Friday (September 20), the police raided and arrested all of them. All the accused were challaned under sections for disturbing peace in the area.
#BalrampurPolice
— BALRAMPUR POLICE (@balrampurpolice) September 21, 2024
आज के अखबार में #BLRPoliceInNews #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/Pe7qvzK2Lg
Most of the accused arrested for frenzied sloganeering at the Ganesh pandal are residents of Balrampur district. Their names are Mohammad Zaid, Mohammad Irfan, Shahbaz Alam, Zaid Khan, Mohammad Hussain, Aqib Ali, Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Ashraf, Sabir Ali, Ghulam Bakhtiar, Mohammad Afzal, Mohammad Majid, Qasim Ali, Mahfooz Raza, Zaid Ansari, and Qutubuddin.
The person who freed the suspect is not yet identified
In this incident, two videos went viral simultaneously. In the first video, the crowd taking out a religious procession was raising slogans like, “If you want to stay in India, then you have to say Khwaja Khwaja” in support of Palestine in front of Lord Ganesha’s pandal. During this, Islamic fundamentalists also raised slogans like “Palestine’s Muslim Zindabad”, “Masjid-e-Aqsa Zindabad”.
चौंकाने वाला और शर्मनाक! बलरामपुर के उतरौला बाजार में बारावफात के जुलूस के दौरान गणेश पंडाल के सामने कट्टरपंथियों ने बेहद आपत्तिजनक नारे लगाए। इससे भी बदतर यह है कि पुलिस को रोका गया और इन कानून तोड़ने वालों को सपा नेता ने बचाया! यह हमारी परंपराओं, कानून और व्यवस्था पर हमला है।… pic.twitter.com/ihN1Y0chdW
— Avanish Pandey Sankrityayan 🚩 (@Avanishpande01) September 18, 2024
In another video, some people freed a suspect caught by the inspector of Utraula police station. In the viral video, the inspector was heard saying, “Why should we let him go?” Yet, in the end, the people in the crowd were successful in their plans to free the suspect. At present, the police have not revealed the identity of the person who freed the suspect from the inspector. Additional SP of Balrampur has said in his statement that investigation and other legal action is going on in the case.
