New Delhi: Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JUH) General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani on Friday said that the communal flare up in the state could have been stopped if they had taken timely steps.

"If the necessary action had been taken against Arjit Shaswat, the son of a Union Minister who is accused of Bhagalpur riots, the ensuing communal flare-ups would not have spread in Nalanda, Aurangabad, and Samastipur," Madani said in a statement.

Expressing deep concern over communal riots in West Bengal and Bihar, he demanded the state and Central governments take every possible steps for restoring peace and amity in the disturbed areas.

Madani exhorted religious and social leaders of the majority community to come forward for thwarting nefarious designs of communal forces who are hell-bent on polarizing society on religious lines.

He reiterated that the district administration should be held accountable for outbreak of any communal riots and that adequate financial compensation should be given to the affected persons.

He also praised Maulana Imdadullah Rasheedi, the imam of an Asansol mosque who lost his young son in the communal violence, for displaying exemplary courage and sacrifice by asking angry Muslim crowds to not take any provocative action in retaliation.

Rasheedi exhorted the emotional congregation that he did not want any more families to lose their loved ones.

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New Delhi (PTI): AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed that party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her, is facing arrest in an illegal recruitment case and she was "blackmailed" by the BJP to become part of the "conspiracy" against the Chief Minister.

Talking to PTI-Video, Atishi, who is also a cabinet minister in the Delhi government, alleged that Maliwal went to the chief minister's official residence on Monday without an appointment.

"Why did she barge inside? Why did she land up at the chief minister's residence without an appointment? Arvind Kejriwal was busy that day and did not meet her. If he had met her that day, the allegations levelled against Bibhav Kumar could have been levelled against him," Atishi said.

She said Maliwal was made the face of this "conspiracy" by the BJP.

"The BJP has a pattern. First they file cases and then threaten to send leaders to jail. Swati Maliwal is facing charges in an illegal recruitment case registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch. An FIR has been registered in the case and it is at a stage where she could be arrested.

"The BJP blackmailed Maliwal and made her the face of this conspiracy," the AAP leader charged.

AAP MP Swati Maliwal has alleged that Kumar assaulted her at Kejriwal's official residence on Monday, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen, charges rejected as "baseless" by the party.

The Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR in connection with the alleged assault on Maliwal and named Kumar as an accused.

Atishi said if the Delhi Police is impartial, it should also register an FIR on Kumar's complaint against Maliwal.

"Will the Delhi Police register a case of trespassing, breach of security and obstructing a government servant from discharging his duty against her? If the Delhi Police is impartial, it should register an FIR on Bibhav's complaint. Will it act on his complaint the same way it did on Maliwal's complaint?" she asked.

"Her call records should be looked into and analysed (to see) which BJP leaders she was in touch with," she said.

As part of its probe into the incident, the Delhi Police on Friday took Maliwal to Kejriwal's residence to recreate the crime scene. Her statement was also recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court.