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Police on Tuesday said they have expunged a case registered against 25 people for offering prayers ''in the open" in Dullepur village of Moradabad district after no evidence supporting the complaint was found during the investigation.
The case under Section 505 (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code was registered in Chajlait police station as the villagers continued performing the namaz in an open place even after a warning, police officials had said.
Senior Superintendent of Police Hemant Kotiyal said that the matter was investigated and the case was being scrapped as no evidence was found to support the charge.
Leaders of parties like the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Samajwadi Party and the National Conference had condemned the police action.
"Plaintiff Chanderpal, etc. had registered a case in police station Chhajlait for offering mass prayers in village Dullepur, after investigation the incident was not found to be proven, therefore, the case has been expunged. Rest of the legal proceedings will be conducted accordingly," a message on the official Twitter handle of the Moradabad police said.
Wahid Saifi, who was named in the FIR, had claimed they were the "legal owners" of the land and that namaz was offered there frequently since Independence.
"Recently, some miscreants, who are claiming themselves to be Bajrang Dal activists, are objecting to it, terming it as a new tradition. They had made a complaint at the police station on June 3," he claimed.
"We all visited the office of the Sub-divisional Magistrate on June 3 where Circle Officer Kanth Saloni Agrawal was also present.
"All legal papers were shown by us but she warned us not to perform namaz in the open and since then we were following the orders. But an FIR was lodged on August 24 at the Chajlait police station after the transfer of SHO," he had said
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi in a series of tweets had condemned the registration of the FIR.
After the FIR was withdrawn, the Hyderabad MP tweeted, "Fair and timely decision. It is expected that the Uttar Pradesh Police will stop registering illegal FIRs under the pressure of the mob. Hope people will now be able to offer namaz in their homes without any hassle.''
In a tweet, NC leader Omar Abdullah had said, "I'm sure if one of the neighbours had a hawan with 26 friends and relatives that would be perfectly acceptable. It's not the mass gathering that is the problem, it's the offering of namaz."
Samajwadi Party MP from Moradabad ST Hassan had said that he visited village Dullepur and found that all were availing their rights legally and communal harmony existed in the village.
He said some miscreants had filed the police complaint, which was found to be baseless.