The main accused for the tension in Meerut on Sunday evening, Badar Ali, was arrested on Thursday from the busy Shopprix Mall of the city.
The arrest came a day after new SSP Ajay Sahni took over and announced an award of ₹5,000 for anybody providing information on Ali.
The Yuva Sewa Samiti president had given the call for the Sunday congregation at the Faiz-e-Aam College to protest against the lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand. According to locals, around 20,000 people assembled at the college. Violence erupted when they were going back, leading to a lathi charge.
The BJP leaders described it as an administrative failure, leading to the transfer of SSP Nitin Tiwari.
“Ali is a known troublemaker and has been charged under Sections 147, 148, 149, 353, 187, 188, 332 of the IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act,” said SP (Rural) Avinash Pandey. “He was also behind the Mawana protest and his role is suspected in the burning of a mosque in Machhra block of Meerut in March this year,” he added.
Sheher Qazi Zainus Sajidin Siddiqui, whose role is also being investigated, said Ali’s image in society was of a social worker who stands up for the cause of the community. “He gave the call for a peaceful protest where I was expected to lead the prayer for the departed soul. If we can’t even pray for the dead, we will become dead as a society.”
Prof. Siddiqui said as the police had not granted permission for the procession, Ali and he appealed against it. “However, people had to go home and the violence erupted more than 4 km away from the college. Now the police are saying Section 144 was in place and even the assembly was unlawful.”
