: Gazi Norool Hassan, the septuagenarian caretaker of a mazar (mausoleum) opposite to the President’s Estate in Chanakyapuri, unexpectedly found himself being questioned by the police on Saturday. What had caught the police’s eye was a seemingly innocuous act of jumping over a wall, which eventually led to the discovery of Mr. Hassan’s one-room house adjoining the mazar.
Mr. Hassan said he had been staying with his foster son Mohammad Noor (22) in the house, located in the middle of a forested area at the Bodyguard Lines, for nearly 40 years.
He said he had valid documents to establish his identity and even an address proof in the form of a valid electricity connection for the past 20 years. His occupation: preaching the Quran to a handful of followers who visit the Tughlaq-era mazar .
‘Unaware’
The police, however, claimed they were unaware that Mr. Hassan had been staying in the forest. Unsurprisingly, when a team patrolling in the area noticed Mr. Hassan climbing over the wall of BG Lines, they immediately sounded an alert.
“As the gates to the BG Lines remain shut through the day, visitors have to climb over the wall and walk through the forest to reach the mazar . On Saturday night, when Mr. Hassan was climbing over the wall, he was spotted by a police team,” said a police officer.
Immediately, a search was launched in the forest. Police officers reached Mr. Hassan’s shack and escorted him and Noor to the Chanakyapuri police station.
They later learnt that Hassan was apparently the caretaker of the mazar, and let him go.
The patrolling team also claimed that they did not know about the presence of a mazar in the area and they stopped the man because the area fell under a high-security zone.
Unhappy
Mr. Hassan, however, retorted by saying that he was targeted unfairly even though he had been in touch with police officers of the New Delhi district and Chanakyapuri police station whenever he conducted a religious function at the mazar .
“The police officials, some of whom were armed, asked to prove my claims were true and went on to question me for a few hours,” said Mr. Hassan.
“Earlier, I used to enter the ridge through the gate beside the President’s Estate, but they have locked that now, so I have to climb over the wall. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t periodically inform them about my presence. Every March I go to seek permission for the Urs festival held on the premises, and it is granted,” he added.
