Haldwani violence 'mastermind' arrested from Delhi

The Uttarakhand Police on Saturday arrested the February 8 Haldwani violence alleged mastermind Abdul Malik from Delhi and brought him in Haldwani, officials said.

Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Prahlad Narayan Meena said six teams were formed to search for Malik and his son Abdul Moid in different states including Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

One of the teams arrested Malik, who is in his 50s, from Delhi but his son is still on the run, Meena told reporters.

"We have brought Malik to Haldwani. He is in our custody. He will be produced before a court at the earliest," he said.

Apart from Malik, two more rioters were arrested on Saturday which takes the total number of people arrested so far in the case to 81.

Malik allegedly built an "illegal" madrasa in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani. Its demolition led to the violence in Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani in Nanital district on February 8.

Malik had vehemently opposed the administration's action and his wife Safia had gone to the court challenging the Municipal Corporation notice for its demolition.

However, the court did not grant them immediate relief and the structure was demolished, triggering incidents of stone-pelting and arson in the Muslim dominated Banbhoolpura area.

A lookout notice was issued against Malik and his son on February 16 and his properties were attached.

Six people were killed and more than a hundred including police personnel and journalists injured in the Banbhoolpura violence.

Apart from the three FIRs lodged initially, a fresh case was registered by the police against six persons including Malik and his wife Safia charging them with criminal conspiracy and fraudulently using a dead man's name for illegal plotting, construction and transfer of land.

In the fresh case, the accused have been charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy to mislead the government departments and the court on the basis of false affidavits, the SSP said.

They were booked under sections 120B(criminal conspiracy), 417 (cheating) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC, he told reporters. The accused have been charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy to mislead the government departments and the court on the basis of false affidavits, he said.

The SOG police team headed by sub-inspector Anees Ahmad and consisting of Gaurav Joshi and others has been given a cash reward of Rs 50,000 by Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar.