Four mosques attacked in Birmingham, UK police ‘treating incidents as linked’
London: Four mosques in the central English city of Birmingham have been attacked overnight, with a man wielding a sledgehammer seen smashing windows at two places of worship, the police said on Thursday.
Counter-terrorism officers are investigating attacks on the mosques in four different areas in the north of the city, West Midlands Police said in a statement.
The force added the incidents “are being treated as linked”.
“At the moment we don’t know the motive for last night’s attacks,” said Chief Constable Dave Thompson in a statement.
“What I can say is that the force and the counter terrorism unit are working side-by-side to find whoever is responsible.”
Officers were first alerted in the early hours of Thursday to reports of a man smashing windows with a sledgehammer at one of the places of worship, police said.
Following reports of a similar attack at another mosque in a nearby neighbourhood, officers launched targeted patrols and discovered “further damage” at two other sites.
“Forensic officers are working to identify evidence, and CCTV is being examined,” the West Midlands force added.
British national police chiefs last week announced officers were providing “reassurance patrols” around mosques in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s deadly gun rampage in New Zealand.
Anti-racism groups have warned Islamophobia is on the rise in Britain and spurring a spike in far-right activity in the country.
A report released last month by the Hope Not Hate charity cited a poll which found more than a third of Britons see Islam as “generally a threat to the British way of life”.
In another recent incident, Mohammed Mahmoud -- an imam who won praise for shielding the perpetrator of a 2017 deadly terror attack against a north London mosque reported he was spat at and abused this week.
Mahmoud said he was targeted Monday while returning home from a solidarity event for the New Zealand massacre with other religious leaders, as well as interior minister Sajid Javid and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
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Kerala court acquits actor Dileep in 2017 actress assault case, six found guilty
Kochi (PTI): A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a case relating to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in Kochi in 2017.
The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.
Apart from Dileep, the court also acquitted three other persons in the case.
The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.
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The assault on the actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, after her car was abducted for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.
According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.
Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.
During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Suni, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.
Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.
