LUCKNOW: A powerful explosion blasted two-wall sofa mosque in Faizabad city early on Monday morning sending shock waves in the twin towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya.
The explosion also damaged two dwelling rooms adjacent to the place of worship resulting in minor injuries to two persons.
Members of the minority community observed a bandh in Faizabad and Ayodhya on Tuesday keeping their shops closed. “The local unit of the Babri Masjid Action Committee has called upon members of the minority community not to celebrate 1d this year as a protest and wear black arm bands on the “albida” day on April 3.
Patrolling by the police and PAC in the two cites has been intensified to prevent any untoward reaction. The inspector-general of police (Lucknow zone) Dr. V.S. Mehta rushed to Faizabad. A state government official here described the situation as “tense but under control.” The place of worship believed to be 200 years old is situated in Sauabara locality of the town near the government inter college on Fatehganj crossing. The building was renovated and the plaster of the newly constructed wall of the building was damaged during the blast.
The deputy secretary of the mosque Mohammed Sharif in his first information report to the police has alleged that some antisocial elements had tried to blow up the building and generate communal tension.
While the senior police officials who had visited the spot could not say what kind of explosive was used by the miscreants? They did not rule out the possibility of a timer device having been used by the culprits
The Deputy Inspector General of Police (Faizabad fange) Mua Shankar Bajpai said serious investigations had been started.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 10, 1992
