Azad Maidan rally organisers to be arrested even if they did not make provocative speeches
Mumbai’s crime branch on Friday recorded the statement of Raza Academy’s secretary Mohammad Saeed Noori, one of the 17 organisers summoned in
connectionwith the AzadMaidan riots. According to sources investigating the case, even if Noori and other organisers did not play a role in inciting the mob on August 11, they could still be arrested for violating the rules and conditions under which they were granted permission to hold the protest at AzadMaidan.
Joint Commissioner of Police (crime)Himanshu Roy stated that the organisers would be arrested under sections of the Bombay Police Act, unlawful assembly and section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to
maintenance of harmony) of the IPC. Currently, the crime branch is trying to find the lynchpin behind the Azad Maidan protest, which left two people dead and
around 55 injured, including 45 police personnel.
Sources in the police stated that one of the obvious violations by the organisers was that though permission had been taken for about 1,500 people to be present
at Azad Maidan, the actual assembly consisted of about 50,000 people, which led to the eventual law and order crisis in the city.
Noori’s statementwas recorded at crime branch’sUnit 1 office in the presence of senior inspector (Unit 1) Ramesh Mahale, who did not clarify whether Noori had given any provocative speech to the gathering.
Meanwhile, Salim Allarakha Choukiya, alias Ali, the 24th accused arrested in the Azad Maidan protest, has been remanded to police custody till August 24. Ali was booked on the same charges as the other 23 rioters.