Image showing a police report. For representational purposes.
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Mumbai: Police in Maharashtra’s Beed district on Saturday invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section for “terrorist act” against two men arrested in the Beed mosque blast case, officials said.
Gelatine sticks went off at a mosque in Ardha Masla village in Georai tehsil on March 30, on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, allegedly after an altercation between two groups during a procession, leading to the arrest of two men.
While no one was injured in the blast, the internal portion of the structure was damaged.
Police arrested local residents Vijay Rama Gavhane (22) and Shriram Ashok Sagde (24) within hours of the blast.
Initially, Beed police had registered a case under BNS sections, including 298 (injuring or defilling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, covering insults), and 196 (promoting enmity between).
Amid the investigation, police have now applied BNS section 113 (terrorist act) and sections 15,16 and 18 of the UAPA that deal with the “terrorist act, punishment for terrorist act and conspiracy”, an official said.
Securing bail is considerably difficult under the UAPA.
The arrested accused are in police custody, he added.