Lucknow, July 15: In a bizarre development, the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow gas filed a case against “unknown people” for offering namaz at the city's newly-opened Lulu Mall.
The mall was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last Sunday and has been opened by Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group, led by Indian-origin billionaire Yussuf Ali M A.
The police said the FIR was lodged under sections 153 A(1) (promoting enmity by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations on grounds of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli¬gious feelings of any class by insulting religion or reli¬gious beliefs), 341 (wrongfully restraining any person) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to reports, a complaint was filed at the jurisdictional Sushant Golf City police station. "One Shishir Chaturvedi from Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha has lodged a complaint regarding the reading of namaz at Lulu Mall. Appropriate action will be taken after the investigation," Ajay Pratap Singh, station in-charge of Sushant Golf City in Lucknow, said.
A controversy broke out after a video purportedly showing a group of people offering namaz at Lulu Mall surfaced on social media, leading to a protest by a Hindutva extremist group that also filed a police complaint.
Members of the group also sought permission from the local authorities to recite the Hanuman Chalisa near the mall on Friday.
After the video surfaced on social media, some members of the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha reached outside the gates of the mall and staged a protest.
"People from a particular community are being allowed to offer namaz inside the mall. The mall authorities should also allow Hindus and people for other communities to offer prayers," Sishir Charturvedi, who identified himself as the national spokesman of the Mahasabha, told.
Chaturvedi alleged that he and other members of the Mahasabha were not allowed to enter the mall.
Sameer Verma, general manager the mall in Lucknow, in a video statement said, "Lulu Mall respects all religions. Any kind of religious work or prayer is not permitted here. We train our floor staff and security staff to keep an eye on such activities." He, however, did not make any comment on the controversy related to the offering of namaz on the mall premises.
Meanwhile, some police personnel from nearby Sushant Golf City police station reached outside the mall to maintain law and order.
Later, Chaturvedi along with Mahasabha members filed a complaint. The complaint alleged that 70 per cent of the mall staff are men from the Muslim community while the rest 30 per cent are women from Hindu community.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Gopal Krishna Choudhary said, "The complaint filed with the police is being looked into."
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