Men who offered Namaz at Lulu Mall had no clue how to offer Namaz: Report quotes Police
CCTV footage shows their 'Namaz' ending in 18 seconds before they hurried out of mall
Lucknow: Days after controversy erupted due to a viral video on social media showing a few men offering Namaz at the newly inaugurated Lulu Mall in Lucknow, a report published in National Herald India has claimed the CCTV footage of the mall on the said day shows the men offering Namaz at the mall had the least idea of offering the Muslim prayer. It has also added the whole episode is turning out to be a conspiracy to malign the image of the mall.
The controversy surfaced after a video was shared across social media platforms on Wednesday showing a few men dressed in evidently looking Muslim attires offering prayers in the premises of the mall. Right-wing Hindutva organisation Hindu Mahasahab had taken offence at the video and demanded that Hindus should be allowed to chant Hanuman Chalisa and perform Hindu rituals if Muslims were allowed to offer Namaz.
They had also alleged that 80% of the men employed at the mall were Muslims but the women were all Hindus. This was, they alleged part of Love Jihad, the National Herald India report added.
The mall was inaugurated by UP CM Yogi Adityanath two days before the controversy was triggered. An FIR was lodged by the mall management and a police investigation was initiated. The mall management refuted all the allegations and shared details of its employees with the police and the militant Hindu organisations to disprove them.
According to the published report, CCTV footage of the said day has now surfaced and it raises several suspicions about the claims of Hindutva organisations. It also points at deliberate mischief to malign the mall and stroke enmity and hatred among communities.
CCTV footage shared by the mall shows eight men gaining entry into the mall together. None of them make any effort to look around the mall or visit any showroom. They neither purchased anything nor were interested in taking selfies in the mall, the report stated.
Seemingly in a hurry, they start looking for a place to sit down and offer Namaz. They first tried the basement, followed by the ground floor and the first floor—where security guards stopped them. Then they proceeded to the second floor, which was relatively less crowded. Six of the men immediately sat down to offer Namaz while the remaining two appear to have got busy recording videos and taking photographs, it further added.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Rajesh Kumar Shrivastava conceded that the footage made it clear that the men had no clue about how Namaz is offered. He was hopeful that the miscreants would be arrested soon.
While it takes seven to eight minutes to complete the ‘Namaz’, these men in a hurry completed it in less than a minute—in fact in 18 seconds flat. Activist and social worker Tahira Hasan, who had flagged concerns of a conspiracy right at the beginning, says that the men were clearly ignorant that Namaz is always offered while facing the Kaaba, which is roughly the west direction in north India. While all of them face the West, one of them has his face to a different direction, National Herald claimed.
After offering the hurried Namaz and recording the video, they exited the mall in a hurry and made no attempt to linger and look around the mall, it further reported.
Late on Saturday evening, DCP (South) and Sushant Golf City Inspector were replaced for their failure to scan the CCTV footage at the beginning of the controversy. The mall management had sought time to scan the footage and shared the incriminating footage with the police.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
