BELAGAVI: Unidentified miscreants set fire to a copy of the Quran and Hadith books on land adjacent to a mosque at Santi Bastwad village in Belagavi taluk. The miscreants took the books from the mosque’s ground floor and set them on fire.
When the mosque staff came for morning prayers on Monday , they found that the Quran and Hadis (Hadith) were missing. After the prayers, the staff searched the surrounding area and found the burned Quran and Hadith in a vacant field.
Following the incident, Police Commissioner Iada Martin Marbaniang and Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohan Jagadish visited the scene as a tense atmosphere prevailed. The police have increased security and are on the lookout for the culprits.
Muslim youths protested in front of Police Commissioner Martin and DCP Rohan Jagadish, demanding the arrest of the accused within two days. The youth were angry that the police had not taken action despite two previous incidents.
The police assured them that they would arrest the accused within two days, but the youth were not satisfied. They threatened to protest from Chennamma Circle to the DC Office, but the police refused to allow the protest. The Muslim youths shouted “La Ilaha Illallah” and “Allahu Akbar” in front of the Belagavi Rural police station.
“The Quran was stolen from the mosque late at night and then burned. A team has already been formed to arrest the accused and we will apprehend them soon”, said Police Commissioner Iada Martin.
When asked about previous incidents in the village, Martin replied, “There was an incident during Eidgah. Now, the youth are demanding that they will stage protest, but we have requested them not to do so at this time. They plan to hold a symbolic protest near VTU”.
A bike rally was held from Santi Bastwad to Chennamma Circle in the city, with thousands of youths participating. The protesters shouted slogans like ‘Tera Mera Rishta Kya, La Ilaha Illallah’, and ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Congress MLA Asif Raju Seth joined the protest and led a rally from Chennamma Circle to the DC’s Office. He demanded that the accused be arrested within three days and action be taken against the police inspector of the Rural police station.
Seth accused the police inspector of negligence leading to the incident. He warned that if the accused are not arrested within three days, they will launch another massive protest.
