A group of six men allegedly vandalised a mosque and attacked a muezzin (a man whose duty is to call Muslims for prayer from a mosque) there when he did not stop giving prayer calls (azan) on a loudspeaker during the lockdown as demanded by them and showed them police permission for the same instead at Bankata village under Sikriganj police station limit of the district on Sunday noon, police said on Monday.
Muezzin Abdul Rahman, 35, who suffered minor injuries in the incident, said there were only three persons in the mosque as permitted by police during the lockdown. The holy month of Ramzan began on April 25.
“The trouble began when some people objected to ‘azan’ through loudspeaker and attacked the muezzin. But people from both the sides are ready for a compromise and have assured us that such incident will not reoccur and that they will maintain harmony. I have called both the sides for talks and if the talks fail, required action will be taken after lodging an FIR,” said Jatashankar, station house officer, Sikriganj police station.
After being informed, senior police officials rushed to site and pacified people.
The attackers also allegedly broke the sound box of the loudspeaker, threw copies of the holy Quran on the floor and thrashed two other locals leading to communal tension in the area, they added.
Hearing the commotion, one Sonu Ali, 25, locked the attackers by closing the door of the mosque from outside and informed police of it.
In the meantime, the attackers came out of the mosque by climbing its walls and thrashed Sonu. As the youth raised an alarm, his father Azmat Ali, 50, rushed to his help but he was also beaten and suffered severe head injuries and fracture in the leg. The attackers then escaped the scene. Azmat Ali was admitted to primary health centre, Dhebra, under under Sikriganj police station.
“The attackers barged into the mosque and created ruckus. I locked them inside and called police but they came out by climbing the boundary wall and beat me up and hurled abuses. They left but returned with more men and all began thrashing me. My father, who rushed to help me, was also thrashed,” alleged Sonu Ali.
