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Namaz controversy: Hindu outfit protestors stopped from reaching Lucknow’s LuLu mall
Five vehicles carrying over two dozen people were stopped at the 1090 crossing and forced to turn back by police
letters@htlive.com
The controversy over offering namaz inside LuLu mall here refuses to die down. On Sunday, the police stopped over two dozen people affiliated with a Hindu outfit from going for a protest outside LuLu mall near the 1090 crossing. The police said that five Hindu outfit activists’ vehicles with posters supporting a boycott of LuLu mall were stopped and forced to turn back after police explained that an investigation was underway and the truth would soon emerge.
The police further intensified the security at the mall on Sunday. A company of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was deployed outside it. Moreover, the police officials are also keeping a strict vigil around the mall to avert any further trouble.
The controversy erupted after a video purportedly showing a group of people offering namaz inside the mall surfaced on social media on Tuesday. Right-wing outfits objected to people offering namaz inside the mall and sought permission from the authorities concerned to recite Hanuman Chalisa there, which was declined.
On Thursday night, the mall management lodged an FIR under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295A (deliberate act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code against a group of unidentified people who allegedly offered namaz at the mall recently.
Meanwhile, the right-wing Hindu groups intensified their protests. On Saturday, over 20 people were arrested after they tried to enter the newly inaugurated mall in Lucknow and recite the Hanuman Chalisa without permission. Late on Saturday night, the inspector in charge of Sushant Golf City police station, Ajay Pratap Singh, was removed for negligence. He was replaced by inspector Shailendra Giri from the Gosaiganj police station.
The mall management on Friday put up a notice stating that “no religious prayers will be permitted inside the mall”.
