A Muslim youth, Aabad Shah, hailing from Kamalpur village in Shahpur Nagar panchayat of Muzaffarnagar, has been arrested after criticising communal and controversial remarks made by Anuj Kumar Chowdhury, the Circle Officer of Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal city, regarding Muslims and the Holi festival.
A mosque imam’s use of a loudspeaker to announce Iftar in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur led to a hate campaign by a Hindutva outfit and police intervention, resulting in the arrest of nine Muslims, including the imam.
Uttar Pradesh police officer Anuj Kumar Chaudhary, the Sambhal Circle Officer, sparked widespread condemnation from opposition parties, who demanded action against him, after he stated, “If Muslims cannot accept being colored during Holi, they should stay at home,” calling his remarks “biased” and “inappropriate for an officer.”
UP Police’s special investigation team in Sambhal submitted chargesheets in six cases related to the November 24 protest against the mosque survey, totaling over 4,400 pages, on Thursday.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday put up posters of 74 men, whom they have named as suspects in the Sambhal violence case, on a wall of the historic Shahi Jama Masjid and other locations in the town.