Nashik: The Maharashtra Police on Wednesday, February 25, booked seven individuals for offering namaz in the Electricity Department office at the Malegaon Municipal Corporation.
A municipal corporation employee, Mahendra Raghunath Sawant, aged 43 years, registered a first information report (FIR).
According to the FIR, shared by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kirit Somaiya on X, the individuals were booked under sections 132 (criminal force against public servant), 292 (public nuisance), 189 (unlawful assembly of more than five persons), and 190 (joint liability of the unlawful assembly) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The FIR was registered under sections of the Maharashtra Police Act as well.
The complainant, Sawant, said that Salim and Lukman arrived at their office with four to five other associates. “Lukman said to me, ‘Where has your officer gone? You are the godown keeper, right? Give us the account of the streetlights and show your registers,’” the complainant stated in the FIR.
Sawant then explained that the Electrical Inspector had already taken the lights for installation in various wards and that he would be the one to provide specific details regarding their locations.
The group left and later returned to offer Asr or afternoon prayers in the office, he added.
“At approximately 5 pm, Lukman returned to our office with his associates and said to his companions, ‘Now it is time for namaz; today we will all offer namaz inside the Electricity Department office itself and will only leave after taking the streetlights,’” the complainant alleged.
The residents, however, said that they were summoned by the department officials at 3 pm and were forced to wait for hours. As the timing of the protest coincided with the Asr prayers, the group offered namaz inside the office, fearing that if they left, the meeting would be cancelled.
The video received widespread outrage from right-wing political figures, with Somaiya calling it an illegal act committed in “Hindu Rashtra.”
