Four Hindu youths arrested in Aligarh for spreading tension by writing ‘I love Mohammad’ on temples
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Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday arrested four Hindu youths for allegedly inciting communal tension in the Lodha area of Aligarh district by writing “I love Mohammad” on the walls of four temples. Police investigations revealed that their motive was to frame members of the Muslim community with whom they had property disputes.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Aligarh SSP Neeraj Kumar Jadon, addressing a press conference in Aligarh, said, “Spelling mistakes in the slogans, CCTV footage, conversations with villagers, call detail records, and court case records helped apprehend the culprits, who had the nefarious intention of inciting communal sentiments to further their vested interests and settle cases in their favor.”
The investigation revealed that the English word “Mohammad” was misspelled in the slogans, and in one case, it was written as “Mamud.”
The accused belonged to the Hindu community and had conspired to defame members of the Muslim community. Police said one of the accused is absconding and is being searched for.
Tension erupted in Aligarh on Saturday after the words “I love Mohammad” were found written on the walls of temples in Bhagwanpur and Bulakigarh villages, which fall under the Lodha police station area. Heavy police force was deployed. Police said senior police officers, along with forensic experts, arrived at the scene and nearby CCTV footage was examined to identify the culprits.
Jadaun said the slogans were erased and a case was registered against unknown persons under sections 295 (acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint from the Karni Sena.
As further facts emerged, the four accused were charged under sections 153A (inciting riot), 295A (insulting religious feelings), 182 (false evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. These included Zeeshan Kumar of Bulakgarhi village, Akash, Dilip Kumar, and Abhishek Saraswat of Bhagwanpur village.
The Aligarh SSP said, “We are grateful to the villagers for maintaining peace, trusting the police, and allowing time for a fair investigation, which resulted in the arrest of four accused, while a co-accused, Rahul, remains at large. We are also grateful to the people of Aligarh for trusting the police and maintaining peace.”
Police stated that the case involves two property disputes. “In the first case, Rahul had a long-standing property dispute with Gul Mohammad’s family, which led to a fight last year,” they said.
Another case was registered on September 9, 2025, following a clash between Mustaqeem and Zeeshan, one of the arrested accused. Both were injured, and a cross-case was filed and a charge sheet was filed.
Jadon stated that Rahul, whose father had a dispute with Gul Mohammad, joined forces with Zeeshan, who lives near the temples where the slogans were found written.
SP (City) Mrigank Shekhar Pathak, who is involved in the investigation, said the police have also recovered the spray can used by the accused to write slogans on the temples.
