Maharashtra Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against two persons arrested for allegedly planting gelatin sticks and triggering a blast inside a mosque in Maharashtra's Beed district. A blast occurred at a mosque in Ardha Masla village in Georai Tehsil in the early hours of Sunday, March 30, ahead of Ramzan Eid celebrations. Nobody was injured, but the internal portion of the structure suffered damage in the explosion.
The police arrested Vijay Rama Gavhane (22) and Sriram Ashok Sagde (24) for allegedly attempting to blow up the religious structure. The accused were also booked under the relevant Sections of the Heavy Substances Act.
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Earlier, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had called on the Maharashtra government to impose Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) laws against those responsible for the explosion.
"Who encourages them? They get encouraged by the hate speeches that the BJP leaders give every day. The government should impose strict UAPA laws against the accused in this case, their case should be heard in fast-track court and they should get severe punishment. Those BJP leaders who keep talking such nonsense every day should also be punished. Only then will we be able to prevent such incidents from happening in the future," AIMIM National Spokesperson Waris Pathan had told ANI.
The blast caused significant damage to the internal structure of the mosque. The police said that they received the information that the accused went to the mosque and carried out the explosion with the help of gelatin. Superintendent of Police (SP) Navneet Kanwat had said in a video statement that the village sarpanch informed the police about the incident at about 4 am.
"All our senior officers and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team reached the spot. We got information that the accused had gone to the mosque and carried out the explosion with the help of gelatin. When our team reached there and started an investigation, we came to know about two accused and before 6 am, we arrested both the accused," SP Kanwat said.