Maulana supporters lathicharged in Roorkee

Haridwar, Sep 5 (UNI) The police this evening lathicharged hundreds of supporters of Maulana Masood Madni, an influential cleric of Deoband who enjoys the rank of a Minister of State in Uttaranchal.

Madni and his supporters were demonstrating in front of Roorkee court and trying to block the Haridwar-Delhi National Highway, protesting the alleged harassment of Muslims by the state government and the district administration.

For the past few days, the Maulana has been demanding the transfer of the DMs and the SSPs of Haridwar and Tehri, whom he holds responsible for the demolition of a mosque in Tehri district .

SSP Abhinav Kumar told UNI that the Maulana was arrested from Roorkee under section 151 of the IPC for apprehension of breach of peace and will be sent to jail .

The latest reports say that the hundreds of supporters of the Maulana have blocked traffic on the Haridwar-Delhi National Highway at Badhedi.

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