Uttar Pradesh: Tension in Aligarh after ‘I Love Muhammad’ graffiti found on walls of several temples, police say it was conspiracy to frame people in a land dispute case

Miscreants wrote I Love Muhammad on several temples on Aligarh.
Images via TV9

Communal tension flared up in Bhagwanpur and Bulak Garhi villages of Lodha police station area in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday (25th October), after ‘I Love Muhammad’ graffiti was found painted on the walls of several Hindu temples.

After seeing the temple walls desecrated with the offensive writings, the locals were outraged. The locals reportedly alleged that it was a deliberate attempt to disrupt communal harmony in the area. On receiving information about the incident, the police arrived and got the offensive writings erased from the temple walls. However, the locals alleged that the removal of the writings at the direction of the police amounted to the destruction of the evidence.

Visuals of the graffiti show that the miscreants misspelled the word Muhammad, writing it as ‘Mumad’ and ‘Muhmad’.

Members of Karni Sena, led by its national vice president Gyanendra Chauhan, arrived at the scene after coming to know about the information. They, along with locals, staged a protest and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. They urged the police to ensure the safety of Hindu temples. The Karni Sena members warned the police that if the culprits are not nabbed within 48 hours of the incident, a major demonstration would be carried out.

A peace committee meeting was convened in the presence of the SP City and Circle Officer (CO) to prevent any untoward situation. Teams of police have been formed to locate and nab the culprits through CCTV, mobile location data, etc. Two suspects have reportedly been identified by the police.

Talking to reporters, Aligarh SSP Neeraj Kumar Jadaun said that he visited 4 vandalised temples in two villages, and the offensive messages have been removed. He said that police teams are talking with villagers over the issue, and an FIR has been registered in the case.

He said that a thorough investigation is being conducted into all aspects, and orders have been given to take strict punitive action against the accused involved in the incident. The situation remains under control in the area now.

Update: On 30 October, police revealed that some Hindus were behind this vandalism of Hindu temples. The police said that the conspiracy was hatched to implicate members of a ‘particular community’ in an ongoing dispute over land transactions. Police arrested three people named Dilip, Akash, and Abhishek, who spray-painted the offensive slogans on temples.

Their intention was to incite communal tension and file a case against the other party involved in the land dispute case. Earlier police had filed FIR against  Maulvi Mustaqeem, Gul Mohammad, Suleman, Sonu, Allabaksh, Hasan, Hamid, and Yusuf. However, now the charges against will be dropped after the revelation.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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