Paris: A fundraiser for French police officer who shot a 17-year-old of North African descent dead during a traffic stop near Paris on June 27 which resulted in nationwide riots has reached over €1 million and has sparked outrage among activists and politicians.

The online fundraiser was started by Jean Messiha, a far-right media commentator and former advisor to Marine Le Pen for the 38-year-old police officer Florian M. More than 52,000 people have donated to the fund which has raised more than €1 million. A similar fund was created for the family of the victim, Nahel M, which could manage to raise only €189,000 on Monday.

Eric Bothorel, French MP has called the pot of several hundred thousand euros for the cop as “indecent and scandalous”.

Nadia, Nahel’s grandmother shared that she was heartbroken about the crowdfunding campaign and support for the cop. She told a French news channel BFM that she has confidence in the justice system. “He took the life of my grandson. This man must pay, the same as everyone,” she added.

Manon Aubry, French politician tweeted that the funds collected for the police officer who killed the teenager sends out a message. “It pays to kill a young Arab,” she stated.

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Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) (PTI): An elderly Muslim man was allegedly assaulted by some people and forced to chant religious slogans after he offered namaz on a vacant land in front of a temple here, police said on Tuesday.

A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, the accused are seen thrashing the man with sticks and hurling abuses at him.

The man, Shahid, a resident of the Resham Bari area, offered namaz during the ongoing month of Ramzan in front of the Atriya Temple in Jagatpura.

Shahid said he has been working near the temple for several days and claimed that the land where he offered namaz is quite far from the temple.

After learning about the incident, members of the Muslim community accompanied Shahid to the local police station and filed a complaint.

They claimed that one of the accused has been convicted in a murder case and currently out on parole.

Temple manager Arvind Sharma said activities associated with any other religion will not be tolerated on the temple land, even if a case is filed against him.

Police reached the spot and appealed to both communities to maintain peace.

Shahid is undergoing a medical examination. Further legal action will be taken based on the complaint, police said.

Municipal Councillor Parvez Qureshi termed the incident unacceptable.

"This matter is extremely serious. Assaulting a person is unacceptable. If anyone had any objection (to namaz being offered), the administration should have been informed. We demand an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future," he said.

Congress leader Sofia Naz said the incident is detrimental to social harmony.

"Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the state government. Violence and forced chanting of slogans in the name of religion are against the spirit of the Constitution. The administration should take immediate action and provide justice to the victim," Naz said.