Varanasi: ‘Pak national’ calls up city magistrate, demands reopening of disputed mosque

A man, allegedly a Pak national, called up the city magistrate of Varanasi 32 times from March 13 to 24 demanding reopening of a disputed mosque sealed two years ago, officials said.

City magistrate Vishram, who goes by the first name, informed district magistrate Yogeshwar Mishra about the incident and registered a case with Cant police station. The anti-terror squad (ATS) is also looking into the case, officials said.

Dr Vishram said he got a call from an unknown number and the caller claimed he was a member of the PML group in Pakistan.

“The caller pressured me to order reopening of a disputed mosque in Konia locality of Varanasi. The mosque was sealed in April 2016 following a controversy between Deobandi and Barelvi sects over its control. The man called me up 32 times between March 13 and 24,” he said.

The matter is pending in the city magistrate’s court

“I received the first call at 1.06 am on March 13. When the caller asked me to order reopening of the disputed mosque, I scolded him and asked him not to call me again,” he added.

“The man, however, called me 11 times on March 13. Through a mobile tracking application, I found out that the number was of Pakistan,” he said.

“When the case came up for hearing in the court on March 14, I asked both the parties to the dispute about the call. They said they were not aware of the matter,” he added.

In-charge of Cant police station Mahesh Pandey said a case had been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of the city magistrate.

An official familiar with the matter said the Uttar Pradesh ATS was looking into the Pakistan connection and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials were also gathering inputs in the case.

A team of ATS officials met the city magistrate and sought information about the calls allegedly made from Pakistan, he said.

DM Yogeshwar Mishra said that police and intelligence agencies were looking into the matter and would take help of telecom department, if required.

.