Tension prevailed in Moradabad after another cleric (Imam of a mosque) was shot dead in the early hours of Tuesday.
Last Saturday, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind general secretary and well-known religious leader Maulana Farooq (67) was brutally murdered in the Sonpur village in Pratapgarh, which also led to tension in the area.
The police have failed to work out Farooq’s murder though they claimed to have picked up a suspect and interrogated him.
According to the information, unidentified miscreants called Maulana Akram outside his house at 4 in the morning and shot him in the chest. Police said that the incident occurred in Bhensia village’s mosque.
The deceased was a resident of Rampur district. He had been serving at the mosque called Badi Masjid for the last 15 years.
“Maulana Akram was shot dead. Attackers called him outside his home and shot him, resulting in his death. The deceased was a resident of Rampur district and had been serving as the Imam of the mosque in Bhainsiya village for 15 years,” said Moradabad SP Akhalaish Bhadauria, who reached the spot along with other senior officers to carry out investigations. The forensic team collected evidence from the spot.
Maulana Akram had also built a house in Bhainsiya and lived there with his wife and six children. According to family members, Maulana Akram received a call in the early hours of Tuesday. Thereafter, Maulana Akram went out to meet the person who called him. Locals raised an alarm after they heard a gunshot, only to find the cleric lying dead in a pool of blood.
The villagers claimed that the police had found a pistol at some distance from the crime scene. The police have taken the pistol in their possession. The police also quizzed the deceased’s wife Amna regarding the incident.
Villagers said that Maulana Akram did not have any fight with anyone in the last 15 years and he did not have any enmity with anyone. The villagers also said that when Maulana Akram did not go to the mosque to offer morning prayers, people got suspicious, after which an attempt was made to find him, and his body was found.
Meanwhile, a JCB driver created a ruckus at the Chhijarsi Toll Plaza in Hapur district. He went on a rampage, smashing the toll booth after being asked to pay the toll fee. The disturbing act, captured on video, quickly went viral, prompting a swift response from police. The incident took place on Tuesday morning when the JCB driver, apparently enraged over the toll payment demand, resorted to vandalism, causing significant damage to the toll booth. The toll plaza, situated under the jurisdiction of Pilkhuwa police station, became the scene of chaos as the JCB driver wreaked havoc. Following the incident, authorities launched a probe into the matter.
