The Moradabad police have booked 26 people for holding a mass gathering to offer namaz in a house without prior permission from local authorities.

Superintendent of Police (rural), Moradabad, Sandeep Kumar Meena, said, “Scores of people assembled at the house of two local villagers in Dulhepur village in Chhajlet area without any notice and offered prayers. They had been cautioned in the past not to indulge in such a practice at home, following objections from neighbours belonging to another community.”

He said, “An FIR has been registered under IPC 505-2 (statement conducing to public mischief in an assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship) against 16 identified and 10 unidentified persons on the complaint of local Chandra Pal Singh. We are looking for those involved in the case.”

Pictures of people purportedly praying inside the house in ‘large numbers’ at Dulhepur village had gone viral on social media, following which, a few right-wing activists staged a protest and demanded police action.

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