By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: About 20 people were injured when the buses carrying UP Ulema Council supporters from Azamgarh railway station were attacked this morning in Jaigahan and Azampur areas in the district. The supporters were returning from attending the Lucknow rally of the organization to demand judicial enquiry into the Batla House encounter.
According to some residents of Bilariaganj from where the buses had gone to the railway station to receive the Lucknow rallyists, when the buses full of rallyists were returning stones were thrown at them in the Hindu-dominated areas between Azampur and Jaigahan. Soon the two groups got engaged in heavy stone pelting. Scores of people were injured with 15-20 bus passengers seriously.
Eyewitness talks to TCN:
However, IANS has quoted police inspector Kamlesh Singh as saying, “The incident took place in the Srinagar Siara Bazaar locality when some members of the Ulema Council, who were returning to Azamgarh from Lucknow, allegedly shouted slogans against the Hindus.”
While security had been beefed up in the entire district particularly on the routes of the rallyists, security personnel were not seen when the incident took place. However, the police soon reached and to control the situation they resorted to lathi-charge. The police have reportedly arrested some people who initiated stone pelting. Not satisfied with the police action, leaders of the Ulema Council have gone to local police station to lodge FIR against those involved in stone pelting.
Dr Tasleem Rahmani while in Bilariaganj police station half an hour before writing this story told this correspondent that he and other leaders including Ulema Council convenor Maulana Amir Rashadi have come to the police station to lodge FIR. He said the situation is now under control but tension can be felt in the atmosphere.
In the Friday rally in Lucknow, about 40 thousand people protested against the UP ATS against the arresting of innocent youths from Azamgarh in terror cases. On January 29, the Ulema Council had held a similar rally in the national capital of Delhi.