Poonam Nath

NCC students forced to offer namaz at camp in Chhattisgarh; 7 teachers charged over action

Digital Desk: Eight persons, including seven teachers, were charged on Saturday with allegedly forcing certain Guru Ghasidas Central University students to offer namaz at an NCC camp in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district, according to a police officer.

They forced 159 students to offer namaz at the camp, which ran from March 26 to April 1 in Shivtarai village, Kota police station, even though only four of them were Muslims, he added.

An investigation was launched after students returned and protested, prompting right-wing groups to demand retribution against those involved, according to the source.

"The incident occurred on March 31. Bilaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Rajnesh Singh formed a four-member team to investigate the matter, which was chaired by City Superintendent of Police (Kotwali) Akshay Sabadra. "The case was filed on Saturday after the investigation report was submitted to the SSP," he explained.

According to the official, Dilip Jha, Madhulika Singh, Jyoti Verma, Neeraj Kumari, Prashant Vaishnav, Suryabhan Singh, and Basant Kumar, all teachers at Guru Ghasidas Central University, as well as team core leader-cum-student Ayushman Chaudhary, have been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 196 (b), 197 (1) (b) (c), 299, 302, 190 of BNS, and section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act.

The case was reported at the Koni police station, and the case diary was forwarded to Kota police station for further investigation, he said.