Lulu Mall Controversy: Six Persons Who Offered Namaz Without Permission Get Bail

The ACJM court granted the accused a conditional bail on filing a bond of Rs 20,000 each. Each accused person will also be required to show up in court upon being summoned.

LuLu Mall after its inauguration by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath, in Lucknow ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Six persons, who were accused of offering Namaz at Lucknow's Lulu mall without permission, were granted bail by a court on Friday, news agency ANI reported. According to the report, the accused who got bail were identified as Mohammad Adil, Mohammad Sayeed, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Atif, Mohammad Rehan, and Mohammad Luqman.

Speaking to ABP News after being released on bail, Atif and Rehan said that they had gone to the mall on July 12 and when it was time for offering the evening prayer, they started looking for a place.  

While looking for a place, they saw a man offering prayer at a corner of the mall after which they sat for the Namaz and completed offering their prayer in five minutes.

Speaking about the direction of offering the prayer, Atif said that they are supposed to turn their back once the Namaz is offered and people might have taken offence at the posture. He further said that when the video of them offering praying went viral, they got scared and thus, did not come forward.

Both Atif and Rehan apologized for the controversy that sparked due to the incident, as per ABP News.

According to the ANI report, the ACJM court granted the accused a conditional bail on filing a bond of Rs 20,000 each. Each accused person will also be required to show up in court upon being summoned.

Notably, a couple of days after the inauguration of Lulu Mall in Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on July 10, a video showing some persons offering Namaz inside the mall went viral.

On July 15, an FIR was registered against unidentified persons under the relevant sections of IPC based on the complaint of Shishir Chaturvedi from Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.

Moreover, two people belonging to the Hindu Samaj party were detained by the UP Police for attempting to recite "Sunderkand" and "Hanuman Chalisa" inside the mall.

(With inputs from Ranveer Singh)