Gurugram mazar targeted, prayer material burnt

A group of unidentified men allegedly started a fire in a mazar at a village in Gurugram in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The caretaker of the shrine, visited by both Muslims and Hindus, said some prayer material was burnt in the fire before it was brought under control by local people.

The incident happened when prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrpC were still in force in Gurugram in view of the communal clashes that began in the neighbouring Nuh district and spread to parts of the city and nearby areas last week. The Gurugram district administration lifted section 144 on Monday.

According to a complaint filed by Ghasite Ram, the caretaker who is a native of the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, it was all normal at the shrine in the Khandsa village when he left for home in the Feroze Gandhi Colony at 8:30 pm Sunday.

He said that around 01.30 am he received a phone call from somebody living near the shrine that a fire in the shrine has been started by some people.

In a complaint filed at the Sector 37 police station, Ram said the fire was brought under control with the help of people. "But when I went there I saw offerings kept inside the mazar were burnt." He said that according to what he could learn "a group of 5-6 young boys gathered there" and started the fire.

Ram said he has been working at the shrine for about seven years and has seen "people of all religions offering their respect there." The small shrine located in the middle of a market also has pictures of Hindu deities on the inner walls along with the tomb of a "peer baba". On the outer wall also, there are picture of a Hindu deity, and the Om and Swastik symbols. In his complaint, Ram said the incident has has hurt the sentiments of people and "can cause riots in society". "Action should be taken against the perpetrators." He told PTI on Monday morning, "This is a decades-old mazar of 'peer baba' and all villagers offer prayers here." He suspected some "outsiders" were involved in starting the fire inside the shrine.

The FIR in the mazar arson case has been registered against unknown persons under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 188 (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) of the IPC, police said.

A senior police officer said they are trying to identify the accused and arrest them.

Police also said an eatery (dhaba) near Rathiwas village was set on fire on Saturday night, and an FIR was registered at the Bilaspur police station in the night itself.

Meanwhile, the Gurugram Police also said it arrested on Sunday night 15 people accused of violence in Sohna and they were sent to judicial custody by a court in the city.