Ten People Arrested for Vandalizing Haryana Mosque and Thrashing Those Offering Namaz

GG News Bureau

Chandigarh, 10th April. Police said on Monday that a group of men armed with lathis barged into a mosque in a village in Haryana’s Sonipat, attacked people offering namaz, and vandalised the place.

At least six people were injured in the Sunday evening attack in the mosque in Sandal Kalan village, they said.

Police have arrested ten people in connection with the “unprovoked attack.”

An additional police force was deployed after the incident, but the situation is peaceful in the village now, a Sonipat police official said on Monday.

Sonipat Police Commissioner B Satheesh Balan stated that information about anti-social elements entering the mosque was received late at night. They thrashed those who offered prayers.

“It was an unprovoked attack. There was no previous incident reported in the village which would have caused disharmony (between communities),” he said.

Pictures of the alleged attackers walking around the village streets with lathis in their hands had surfaced on social media.

According to the locals, some youths from the village asked people inside the mosque who were offering prayers to stop it and later vandalised the place. Some children were also inside the mosque at the time of the incident, they claimed.

The arrested youths belong to the same village. They have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to hurting religious sentiments, the police official said.

“Strict action as per law will be taken. Such hooliganism will not be tolerated,” Balan said.

According to police, the small mosque was built by the village’s residents.