BHOPAL: A teacher of a government school has been taken into police custody in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district for allegedly tearing and burning the pictures of Bharat Mata and Hindu gods and goddesses. He is also accused of asking Hindu students to read the Quran and learn to offer Namaz.
A case was registered under BNS Sections 298 and 351(3) -- which deal with defiling a place of worship or objects held sacred by a particular religious group and criminal intimidation -- at Ujjain’s Jharda police station on Wednesday, and the accused teacher Shaqil Mohammad Nagori was taken into custody by the police.
The case was lodged on the complaint by Nagpura village resident Rohit Rathore, whose cousin Anurag Rathore studies in Class VI at the government secondary school in Nagpura, where the accused is one of the teachers.
The complainant alleged that his cousin told him on Wednesday morning that the concerned teacher, Shaqil Mohammad Nagori, had torn and burnt pictures of Bharat Mata and Hindu gods and goddesses before school children on July 11.
“On reaching the school on Wednesday, I found a half-burnt picture of Bharat Mata in front of the school,” the complaint alleged in the complaint.
The complainant further alleged that his cousin and other Hindu students at the concerned government school have told him that the Muslim teacher often asks them to read the Quran and learn to offer Namaz.
The school children told the complainant that the teacher had threatened to kill them if they made the matter (tearing and burning pictures of Bharat Mata, Hindu gods and goddesses) public.
While confirming the development, additional SP (ASP-Ujjain) Mayur Khandelwal said, “A case has been registered on the complaint and the concerned teacher has been taken into custody.”
Meanwhile, as per the latest reports, the concerned teacher has been suspended by the Ujjain district education officer, following the incident.