Court says Tauqeer Raza ‘mastermind’ of 2010 communal riots, summons him on March 11

Bareilly: A court in Bareilly on Tuesday summoned Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chairman Maulana Tauqeer Raza in connection with the communal riots in the Qutub Khana area here in March 2010, observing that he was the “mastermind” behind the violence, according to a government counsel.

The court also said that the then divisional commissioner and district magistrate of Bareilly, deputy inspector general of police of Bareilly zone, the inspector general of police, senior Superintendent of police and other senior officials did not include Tauqeer Raza’s name in the charge sheet of the case despite sufficient evidence.

“By doing this, they supported the mastermind of the riots Maulana Tauqeer Raza. In such a situation, a copy of this order should also be sent to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for action,” Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar was quoted as saying by Additional District Government Advocate (ADGC) Digambar Patel.

The court summoned Tauqeer Raza to appear on March 11 in this connection, Patel said.

Tauqeer Raza, who has considerable influence among Barelvi Muslims, has often courted controversies for his statements. He was last year booked by UP police for allegedly making inflammatory remarks.

Inspector Subhash Yadav recorded his statement in the riot case on Tuesday.

During the hearing, the court accepted the appearance waiver for other riot accused – Rizwan, Danish, Raju, Hasan, Soubi Raza and Yasin.

Due to their continuous absence from the last several dates, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against Babu Khan, Arif, Amjad Ahmed, Nisar Ahmed, Abrar, Raju alias Rajkumar and Kausar and ordered the Premnagar police to arrest and produce them.

Giving details of the case, Patel said that on March 2, 2010, a Holi procession and Barawafat procession were to be taken out.

Although both processions were taken out peacefully, it is alleged that Tauqeer Raza, a resident of Saudagaran and belonging to the Aala Hazrat family, had given an inflammatory speech to a group of people after which riots took place from Qutub Khana of the city police station to Kuhada Peer Bazaar of Prem Nagar police station area.

During this, the mob torched the police post and set fire to the houses belonging to the members of the majority community. In view of the situation, curfew was imposed in the city for 27 days, he said.