Delhi: Dwarka mosque in South West district attacked before dawn, allege residents

A mosque in Dwarka locality of South West Delhi was allegedly attacked by miscreants in the early hours of Friday. Police first described the incident as mischief, but later denied it took place, a resident told Scroll.in.

The mosque is located near Shahjahanabad Apartments in Sector 11, Dwarka – nearly 40 km away from the North East district, where violent clashes earlier this week took at least 42 lives.

An imam, who does not wish to be identified, told Scroll.in that the attack took place at around 2.30 am. He said the attackers threw stones, bottles at the mosque and broke the window pane. The miscreants also allegedly shouted “Jai Shri Ram” slogans after throwing stones. Another imam and a security guard were also present at the mosque when the incident took place.

Saad Majeed, a 35-year-old resident of the Shahjahanabad Apartments, said police arrived at the spot immediately. He said the broken glasses of the mosque were fixed by them at their expense.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) called the attack a rumour and it was “completely false”. “Public is advised not to pay attention to or spread rumours/fake news on social media,” the Twitter handle tweeted.

Majeed, however, said police was trying to downplay the matter and their tweet denying the incident was a lie. He questioned why Assistant Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Rajinder Singh visited the mosque twice if the incident did not happen and the heavy presence of security personnel posted at the site.

Majeed said residents were trying to mobilise public and register an first information report.

Before the police’s tweet, Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajinder Singh had told The Quint: “This was an act of mischief.”

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Friday began an “outreach programme” for imams and maulavis of various mosques in North East Delhi, PTI reported. Senior officials met them outside mosques in Kardampuri and Kabir Nagar.