The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police arrested seven people on Thursday, 28 April, for throwing objectionable items, such as pages of holy books and inflammatory posters, outside three mosques and a shrine in Ayodhya.
The police were able to nab the suspects through evidence captured by CCTV cameras.
"While seven persons have been arrested, four others are absconding. We will arrest them soon. During questioning of those arrested, it came to light that they wanted to ruin the amicable atmosphere and peaceful tradition of this city," said Senior Superintendent of Police (Ayodhya) Shailesh Kumar Pandey.
The police said that objectionable items were thrown by the accused at the Taatshah Jama masjid, Masjid Ghosiyana, and Kashmiri Mohalla
mosque as well as the shrine of Gulab Shah Baba in Ayodhya on Wednesday night, 27 April.
Pandey said that 11 people were involved in the incident, adding that action under the Gangsters Act and the National Security Act will also be initiated against them, according to news agency ANI.
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The accused persons include Mahesh Kumar Mishra, Pratyush Srivastava, Nitin Kumar, Deepak Kumar Gaur alias Gunjan, Brijesh Pandey, Shatrughan Prajapati, and Vimal Pandey. They are all residents of UP's Ayodhya.
The police also said that Mahesh Kumar Mishra was the "mastermind" behind the incident, and that the plan was implemented by the group to take revenge for the communal violence in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri.
"A total of eight persons on four motorcycles, led by Mahesh Mishra, threw objectionable posters and objects at the mosques and the shrine. The objects which they had thrown were recovered, and the vehicles used by them have been impounded. After collecting the evidence, police teams were able to figure out the whole chain of events," Pandey added.
The SSP also said that the accused had gathered at Brijesh Pandey's house on the night of 26 April to finalise the plan.
The accused persons have been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 295 (injuring or defiling places of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
(With inputs from ANI.)
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