The Haridwar Police in Uttarakhand, have reportedly first booked –then jailed– a Muslim youth for selling chicken eggs at Har Ki Pauri, a sacred ghat on the banks of river Ganga on allegations of hurting Hindu religious sentiments reports Zee News and Muslim Mirror. Some locals allegedly saw him selling the eggs at the Ghar and handed him over to the police on Friday evening. The police told the media that the youth, identified as Nizamuddin (27), son of Safeek, is a resident of village Ganjewali from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district. Questions have been raised at the need for the arrest and seizure of all his goods when action could have been limited to astoppal of the sale of the products.
According to Sanjeev Chauhan, the in-charge of the local police station, “The accused has been detained and sent to jail on charges of selling eggs. The arrest was made based on the information provided by the local residents, who handed him over to the police along with evidence of his alleged unlawful activities.”
One version states that he was found “selling eggs secretly” in a basket near the Nai Ghat Bhagirathi Bridge under the Har Ki Pauri area, which is a prohibited zone for non-vegetarian food items. Sale of meat, fish and eggs are banned in Haridwar. In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the Uttarakhand government’s move to make holy towns Haridwar, Rishikesh and Muni Ki Reti free from non-vegetarian food.
The vendor, Nizamuddin has claimed that he was unaware of the prohibition. However, the police, instead of giving him the benefit of the doubt, did not believe his statement and registered a case against him under serious sections. The police also seized his entire stock of five carat eggs from his possession which is also questionable.
Ganga Sabha, a religious body that manages the affairs of the ghat, also jumped into the country and accused the boy of deliberately selling eggs and hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindus. The religious body has demanded “strict action” against him.
The religious body also blamed the Haridwar police for failing to protect the holy city from the youths of a particular community, who have disguised themselves to run a langar or distribute prasad at times.
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