10 held for vandalising mosque, thrashing people offering namaz in Haryana’s Sonipat

A group of men armed with lathis allegedly barged into a mosque in a village in Haryana’s Sonipat, attacked people offering namaz and vandalised the place, police said on Monday.

At least six people were injured in the Sunday evening attack in the mosque in Sandal Kalan village, they said.

Police have arrested 10 people for the “unprovoked attack”.

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An additional police force was deployed after the incident but the situation is peaceful in the village now, a Sonipat police official told PTI on Monday.

Sonipat Police Commissioner B Satheesh Balan said that information was received at night that some anti-social elements had entered the mosque. They beat up those offering prayers.

“It was an unprovoked attack. There was no previous incident reported in the village which would have caused disharmony (between communities),” he said.

Pictures of the alleged attackers carrying lathis in their hands and roaming the streets of the village had surfaced on social media.

According to the locals, some youths from the village asked people inside the mosque who were offering prayers to stop it and later vandalised the place.

Some children were also inside the mosque at the time of the incident, they claimed.

The arrested youths belong to the same village. They have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to hurting religious sentiments, the police official said.

"Strict action as per law will be taken. Such hooliganism will not be tolerated," Balan said.

Police said the small mosque is built by the community in the village.