Bareilly: Tensions remain high in Bareilly after Uttar Pradesh police shot and injured the district president of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), Tasim, during an operation on Tuesday. The action followed violent protests last Friday against the circulation of “I Love Muhammad” posters.
According to police, a team moved to arrest Tasim in connection with the September 26 protests that erupted after Friday prayers. During the operation, officials alleged that Tasim opened fire on them with a country-made pistol. In retaliation, police shot him in the leg.
“While attempting to arrest the accused, he fired at our team with a country-made pistol. In self-defense, our officers returned fire, injuring his leg,” Additional Superintendent of Police Manush Pareek told reporters at a press conference.
Tasim, who is undergoing treatment in police custody, is a close aide of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, a prominent Muslim cleric and IMC leader. Police noted that Tasim had earlier been booked under the Uttar Pradesh Goonda Act and was also implicated in a cattle slaughter case.
Maulana Khan himself was arrested on Saturday and remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody. Authorities say Tasim’s arrest underscores the state’s intensifying crackdown on IMC leadership. Alongside him, 17 more individuals were taken into custody on Tuesday, bringing the total arrests linked to the unrest to 73.
Those arrested include Shamshad, Moin, Zakir Qureshi, Mehtab, Faizan, Abdul Nafees, Guddu Ahmad, Ayan, Raees, Sheru, Hassan, Kazan, Aman, Mohammad Harmain Raza, Nematulla, and a 15-year-old minor. Police said charges span across multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the CLA Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and the Arms Act.
The violence in Bareilly was sparked by the circulation of “I Love Muhammad” posters, which triggered widespread protests. Community members have alleged that police have been arbitrarily detaining Muslim youths and minors from their homes without informing families, while also seizing or demolishing Muslim properties using bulldozers.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government has vowed strict action against those accused of “inciting violence.” However, opposition parties and rights groups have condemned the mass arrests and demolitions as “collective punishment” targeting the Muslim community.
Authorities say several police personnel were injured in the clashes. Yet, drone footage from Friday reportedly shows police using force to disperse crowds outside a mosque, where Muslims had gathered peacefully to submit a memorandum to the President of India. The video appears to show officers baton-charging the assembly before violence escalated.
Heavy police deployment remains in place across Bareilly, with the situation still tense.
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