Six held for vandalising Durga Puja pandal in Sahibabad

The arrested suspects have been identified as Nizam Ansari, his wife Zareena Begum, his daughter Sajiya, his son Ashad and his friends Rahul and Shakil — all residents of Pasonda village. They were booked for vandalising the Durga Puja pandal and fighting with the organisers

The Ghaziabad police on Sunday arrested six people after two groups fought at a Durga Puja event being held in Pasonda village of Sahibabad. Police said some people objected to the loud music from the Durga Puja pandal that led to a fight between two groups on Saturday night.

Six held for vandalising Durga Puja pandal in Sahibabad

On the basis of a complaint at the Teela Mor police station, six people have been arrested and security has been deployed at the pandal, police added.

Teela Mor police station in charge Bhuvneshwar Kumar informed that a complaint was received by Vimal Shakya, organiser of the Durga Puja event and a resident of Pasonda village.

“According to the complaint, Shakya alleged that his neighbour Nizam Ansari objected to the playing of loud music at the Durga Puja pandal. He alleged that even after lowering the volume of the music, the suspects started vandalising the pandal and fought with the organisers,” Kumar said, adding that around 10pm, the police received information about the violence and reached the spot after which Shakya registered a police complaint.

“Six people were arrested on Sunday following an investigation. Some members of the organising committee also sustained injuries during the fight,” Kumar added.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Nizam Ansari, his wife Zareena Begum, his daughter Sajiya, his son Ashad and his friends Rahul and Shakil — all residents of Pasonda village. They were booked for vandalising the Durga Puja pandal and fighting with the organisers.

“On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was registered against all the six suspects under Section 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The suspects were arrested and sent to judicial custody after being produced in a court,” Kumar said.

“Heavy police force has been deployed at the puja pandal in Pasonda following the incident”, Kumar added.