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Man offers namaz at Gorakhpur rly station; RPF launches probe after video goes viral
The incident came to light after a purported video of the man offering prayers in the public space was uploaded to the internet by an onlooker.
Gorakhpur: An unidentified man is being looked into by the railway police force (RPF) for offering namaz at platform number 1 of the Gorakhpur railway station. The incident came to light after a purported video of the man offering prayers in the public space was uploaded to the internet by an onlooker.
Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh has said that the RPF is examining the authenticity of the video. Police are also questioning the vendors on the platform about the man in question. In the purported video of the incident, fellow passengers on the platform can be seen preventing the man from offering namaz at the railway station but he tells them that it’s almost time for his train and he doesn’t have the bandwidth to find a mosque within the limited time frame.
Following the incident, the RPF personnel on Sunday urged passengers to not offer prayers in the train or at the station. Notably, there is no legal provision to book namazis for praying in a public space unless it violates an imposed curfew under Section 144. According to the law, unless an act of prayer creates a problem or is a nuisance to the public, it cannot be termed a crime.
