IANS/Mumbai


Vehicles damaged in the violence lie at the Azad maidan grounds in Mumbai
Police yesterday booked 23 people for murder, attempt to murder, molestation and damage to public property as they began probing violence during a protest which left two dead and 100 injured.
The accused were presented before magistrate P S Rathod who sent them to police custody till August 19, said lawyer Husen A R Shaikh, appearing for one of the accused.
Police said in their remand application that the violence appeared to be “pre-planned and pre-meditated” given the systematic manner in which it was carried out outside Azad Maidan, he said.
Muslim groups had called the gathering to protest killing of Muslims in Myanmar and Assam.
Other charges slapped on the accused included physical attack on police and public, theft of government weapons and unlawful assembly, said Shaikh.
Joint police commissioner (crime) Himanshu Roy told the media: “We have set up a special team to investigate the entire incident and find out the causes and the people behind it.”
Roy said police were studying the speeches of organisers to determine if they were provocative.
Shaikh claimed his client Ghulam M Musa Sheikh, a 22-year-old final year engineering student from Bandra’s Rizvi College, was innocent and he was detained as he went to collect his vehicle parked near Azad Maidan.
The other accused are: Fahim Sheikh, Alamgir Pathan, Jamir Sheikh, Mohamed Wasim Sheikh, Javed Sheikh, Sakir Sheikh, Mohamed Bilal Sheikh, Mohamed Abdul Razzak, Aslam Sheikh, Ghulam M Musa Sheikh, Mohamed Umer, Anwar Qureshi, Mohamed Momin Umer, Mohamed Ansari, Rihan Rashid Sheikh, Mohamed Ahmed, Imran Sheikh, Anis Danare, Afzal Sheikh, Umer Ansari, Amin Chaudhari and Abbas Ujjainwala.
Roy said CCTV records were being scanned to identify the rioters for the violence which paralysed Mumbai for several hours.
The trouble affected a 2km radius around Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, opposite the Azad Maidan, the venue of the Saturday procession.
Roy said the extent of damage to public and private property was being studied. He added that the organisers will be ordered to pay compensation for the damages as per the laws.
Some people were questioned to know their antecedents and role in the violence.
A group of youths attacked journalists and police personnel and damaged public and private vehicles.
Taking police and the organisers by surprise, the attacks quickly spread, engulfing the media, police and even some participants in the procession, vehicles and media vans.
At the final count, 49 BEST buses were damaged, 12 police vans were vandalised and 50 private vehicles were torched.
After a tense Saturday, Mumbai bounced back to its usual self.
“The situation is calm, road traffic is normal, all public buses and suburban train services are functioning as usual,” a city control centre official said.
Police maintained a tight vigil all over the city and surroundings.
Meanwhile, The Editors Guild of India yesterday condemned the violence against journalists during the protest and urged police to deal with the attackers “sternly”.
Raza Academy, Muslim groups apologise
Mumbai’s liberal Raza Academy yesterday offered unconditional apology to the media and the city residents for the widespread violence on Saturday and sought forgiveness. “The people who indulged in violence cannot be Muslims. Some mischief mongers have taken advantage of the situation,” Raza Academy president Mohamed Saeed Noori said. He said the Raza Academy and others - All India Sunni Jamaitul Ulema, All India Sunni Ayema-e-Masajid, Jamaat-E- Razae Mustafa and another 20 Sunni Muslim groups - felt “deeply ashamed” of the violence. Founded in 1978 and generally regarded as a secular outfit, the Raza Academy’s reputation suffered a serious setback after Saturday’s violence. Ahmed Raza, one of the organisers, took pains to explain that they had never anticipated such a large turnout for the procession.