A sessions court in Uttarakhand on Saturday night sent Abdul Malik, the key accused person in the Haldwani violence case, to police custody for 10 days, reported ANI.
State Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar also announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for the police team that arrested Malik in Delhi on Saturday.
The police had said on Wednesday that a total of 74 persons had been arrested in connection with the violence that broke out in Haldwani after the city’s municipal corporation demolished a mosque and a madrasa in the Banbhoolpura locality on February 8, claiming that they were built illegally on government land – even though the matter was underway in the Uttarakhand High Court.
Six persons were killed in the riots.
Malik’s anticipatory bail petition at the sessions court in Haldwani is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday. His lawyer has claimed that Malik was not involved in the violence, adding that he was not in the area for two to three days before it erupted.
Malik ran the mosque and madrasa in Banbhoolpura that were demolished, according to The Indian Express. After the violence, the Haldwani Municipal Corporation had on February 13 served a notice to him to deposit Rs 2.44 crore to cover damage caused to government property.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on February 12 said that a police station would be built on the place where where the mosque and madrasa were demolished. The Nainital Police on February 13 opened a temporary outpost at the site.
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