Mumbai: Nearly four months after the Azad Maidan riots in which two persons were killed, 65 others injured and property worth 2.72 crore was damaged, police arrested the rally’s main organiser Maulana Ahmed Raza and would produce him before a court today.
Raza, general secretary of an NGO, Madina-tul-ilm, has been booked on charges of murder, conspiracy, rioting, causing damage to public and private properties and unlawful assembly, police sources said.
Police had last month filed a 3,384-page charge sheet in the case, naming 57 persons as accused for their alleged involvement in the riots. So far, more than 50 persons have been arrested in the case.
Of the total accused, four were charged with molesting police women on duty.
On August 11, Raza had organised a rally at Azad Maidan to discuss reported atrocities on Muslims in Myanmar. He had sought permission for 1,500 persons. However, more than 15,000 gathered at the venue and the mob turned violent after some speakers spoke aggressively, police said.
Participants at the rally then went on a rampage damaging media vans and police vehicles. In the melee, policemen were allegedly attacked and women police personnel molested. Some of the rioters also fled with police firearms.
