FIR registered after pages of holy book found scattered on road
Bandra police have filed a case after pages of a holy book were found scattered, prompting concerns of religious insult and enmity.
MUMBAI: The Bandra police on Tuesday registered a case against unknown persons for hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity between religious groups after pages of a holy book were found scattered under a bridge along the Western Express Highway.
According to the police, the complainant Shanawaz Shaukatali Sayyed, who puts up posters and banners on roads, was on his way to Andheri on Tuesday morning when it started raining. Sayyed took shelter beneath the U-bridge on Western Express Highway, and while waiting there, noticed several pages from a sacred book lying scattered on the road. He shot a video of the scattered pages, gathered them with the help of another pedestrian and called the police emergency number to report the incident.
“Based on a complaint from Sayyed, we have registered an FIR against unknown person/s under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, etc) and 298 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion of any class) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” said a police officer.
CCTV footage of the area is being scanned to ascertain the identity of the accused and whether the act was a mischief or done deliberately to provoke enmity between religions, the police noted.