Demolition leads to tension at shrine

Tension brewed outside a shrine (dargah) near Kanjurmarg station at LBS Marg on Tuesday, after residents alleged that two bathrooms attached to the shrine were demolished by a builder.

Tension brewed outside a shrine (dargah) near Kanjurmarg station at LBS Marg on Tuesday, after residents alleged that two bathrooms attached to the shrine were demolished by a builder.

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The police arrested six people for their involvement in the demolition.

The congregation that visited the Hazrat Sayyad Shamshuddin Qadri Chishti Baba shrine around 6 am for morning prayers took to the streets after they saw two bathrooms damaged and the entrance to the bathrooms plastered, said the police.

There were reports of stone pelting with the local police and State Reserve Police Force being rushed to the spot. The situation was brought under control by noon, said locals.

Shoukat Sheikh, a local, said: “When we entered the shrine at dawn, we found the entrance to the bathroom blocked and the bathrooms broken. We suspect a local builder whose building stands next to the mosque to be behind the incident. We want him to apologise to us.”

“We have arrested one Madhusudan Devkar along with five accomplices under section 295 A of the IPC that deals with outraging religious feelings of a particular class,” a police official said.