Four people were arrested on Thursday for offering namaz at the mosque in Taj Mahal premises. According to Vikas Kumar, Superintendent of Police of Agra, among those arrested, three of them are from Hyderabad and one is from Azamgarh.
The accused have been booked under section 153 of IPC and have been presented in the court, the police official said.
"Four people were arrested for offering namaz at the mosque in Taj Mahal premises. Three of them are from Hyderabad and one is from Azamgarh. They have been booked under section 153 of IPC. They have been presented in the court," Vikas Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Superintending archaeologist, ASI, Agra Circle Raj Kumar Patel said there is a Supreme Court order that prohibits offering of namaz inside Taj premises on all days except Friday.
He said even on Friday only the residents of Tajganj locality - where the mausoleum is located - are allowed to pray between 12 pm and 2 pm.
The four men were spotted offering namaz at the Shahi mosque at about 5 pm on Wednesday evening.
They were accosted by the officials from the Archaeological Survey of India and CISF and were handed over to the local police.
According to some, prohibition on offering of namaz inside the Taj mosque was unheard of till a few days back.
Vinod Dixit, a tourist guide from Lucknow, who accompanied the tourists, claimed that the accused had no idea they were committing a crime.
"They had no idea that they cannot offer namaz. They did it by mistake. There wasn't even any notice board saying that it's prohibited," he said.
