A 39-year-old deputy imam of a mosque was arrested on Monday for allegedly carrying a live cartridge to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. He had gone there with 12 other imams from different mosques to discuss the issue of salaries.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh said that Mohd. Imran, a resident of north-east Delhi’s Welcome, who is the muazzan (deputy imam and head caretaker) at Masjid Bawli Wali in Karol Bagh, was arrested after a cartridge of .32 bore was found in his wallet during a search.
A case under relevant sections of the Arms Act has been registered.
Mohd. Moinuddin, the mosque’s imam and the accused’s elder brother, said that he was shocked as the arrest was made after Mr. Imran had gone inside, attended the meeting and while he was exiting. Mr. Moinuddin said that Mr. Imran was asked to keep his wallet during the checking, after which he and the others who had gone with him went inside and met Mr. Kejriwal.
“All India Imam Association president Maulana Sajid Rasheed, who was with Imran, told me the arrest was made when they were exiting after the meeting. They told them that if there was a threat, they should have arrested him before he entered. Nothing happened when he went inside and the meeting took place peacefully. Is not it a huge lapse of security on their part?” Mr. Moinuddin said.
‘Not allowed inside’
Mr. Singh said, “The information given to us by the security staff at the Chief Minister’s residence was that he [Mr. Imran] was not allowed to enter and had been detained, after which he was handed over to the local police.”
Talking about the live cartridge, Mr. Moinuddin said that about two-and-a-half months ago, he had found it in the donation box after Friday evening prayers and had handed it over to Mr. Imran. “After the prayers, the donation box is passed to all the people who come and they, without seeing, take money out from their pockets and put in the donation box. We do not know what they put. When the box was opened after the prayers, I saw the cartridge. I did not realise what it was. I asked the ones who were with me at the time and they told me it was a live cartridge,” Mr. Moinuddin said. Curious, Mr. Imran had taken it in his hand to see what a cartridge looks like, the brother said.
The accused was then asked to throw it on his way back home. However, he got a call from his family and was informer that his wife was ill and had been admitted to the hospital. “He immediately rushed and forgot about the cartridge. He did not even come to the mosque for a week,” the Imam said.
The brother also claimed that Mr. Imran barely carried his wallet around which, he suspects, is the reason “he forgot about the cartridge”.
On Monday, Mr. Imran carried his wallet allegedly because he had go for the public meeting. The meeting was regarding the increase in the salary of imams and muazzans of mosques by the Delhi Waqf Board.
AAP’s reaction
Expressing concern over recovery of the live cartridge, the AAP on Tuesday asked the Central government to get over “petty politics” and pay attention to the the Chief Minister’s security.
“It is a very serious matter that a man carrying a live cartridge managed to reach the Chief Minister at his Janta Darbar. We appeal to the Centre to set aside petty politics and pay attention to his security,” said AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.
He and AAP leader Raghav Chadha slammed the BJP and its government at the Centre over what they claimed was a “third attack” on Mr. Kejriwal in the last one month.
