Violence in Sambhal: Attacked, their homes destroyed, 9 Muslim families leave UP village

Two FIRs have been lodged at Gunnaur police station in the area and seven accused have been arrested so far. Senior police officials are camping in the village and trying to pacify the groups. Nandrauli has 80 per cent Hindu population.

Station House Officer of Gunnaur, Raj Pal Singh, said that on May 9, a local businessman named Ram Niwas lodged an FIR against his neighbour, Babloo, 22, and his friend Musharraf for allegedly abducting his daughter — Arti, 20 — from his house the night before. Babloo, a Muslim man, runs a dairy in the village.

Musharraf was arrested on Thursday but the police could not get any information from him about the duo on the run. According to SHO Singh, on the afternoon of May 9 a mob attacked five houses of people from the minority community, including that of Babloo. They threw stones and broke all furniture lying outside, he said. An FIR was lodged against 25 unidentified rioters.

While a police team was deployed after the attack, people from the Muslim community alleged that a group of armed men again targeted 15 houses the following night in presence of the police officials. “The men barged in and vandalised the homes. They later set the belongings on fire. They also beat up the occupants,” alleged Ahmed Ali, a neighbour of Babloo.

Ali spoke with The Indian Express over telephone — he had left the village with his family “fearing further attack”, and refused to divulge his location. The SHO claimed that policemen deployed in the village tried to intervene but were outnumbered by the mob. Additional force was sent in, and they brought the situation under control after a round of lathi-charge, the police said.