Malda: Police hunting 51 Muslims involved in provoking violence

Malda Police are looking for 51 people who were involved in the rally on Jan 3, which ended in violence.

According to police these people had signed a letter issued by the Muslim organization Edara-e-Shariyah while seeking permission to hold the gathering on January 3 at Kaliachak in Malda.

On January 3, a Muslim group took a rally protesting against Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari for his remarks against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which had turned violent after few anti social elements set on fire about two dozen vehicles and attacked the Kaliachak police station.

“The office of Edara-e-Shariyah has been under lock since January 3,” said an officer of Kaliachak police station on Tuesday.

Police are also likely to interrogate two leaders, CPM’s Abdul Rauf and Ashadul Biswas from Trinamool Congress for allegedly mobilizing the crowd.

According to Indian Express news, Malda SP Prasun Bandopadhyay said: “We have got several names and are verifying the same. More than arresting people, we should be careful that people are not harassed.”

“Several agencies are investigating the matter… We are all in the process of gathering information from different sources. Till now, 11 arrests have been made in the case…,” said Bandopadhyay.

Muzammil Ahmed, a youth affiliated to Edara-e-Shariyah, who was traced by The Indian Express, said: “Ours is a religious organization and we had informed the police about the gathering beforehand. They could not provide enough security and some anti-social elements, which mingled with the crowd, attacked the police station.”

“Now Police unnecessarily harassing the organization members” said Muzammil.