Police nabs second person who vandalised memorial in Mumbai riot

Mumbai: The second vandal who damaged the the Amar Jawan memorial during the 11 August riot here was arrested on Thursday, while police apprehended three more alleged rioters, taking their number to 58. Shahbad Abdul Kadir Shaikh (20), one of the two youths involved in vandalising the memorial, was arrested from Mahim in central Mumbai, a senior police official said. The other youth involved in the desecration, Abdul Quadir Mohammed Younus Ansari (19), was nabbed two days ago. [caption id=“attachment_437864” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] A city tabloid had published images of the duo desecrating the war memorial situated near Azad Maidan in south Mumbai during the rioting, in which two persons were killed and over 50 others, mostly policemen and media persons, injured. Apart from Shahbad Shaikh, a resident of suburban Jogeshwari, three more rioters - Nadeem Shaikh, Faisal Shaikh and Tauseef Shaikh - were also arrested during search operations carried out since yesterday evening, police said. With this, the total number of those taken into custody for the rioting had gone up to 58, they said. Shahbad Shaikh, a driver by profession, had a theft case filed against him in 2006, police said, adding he had attended a meeting in Jogeshwari before coming to Azad Maidan. Explaining the role of three other accused, police said Nadeem had beaten up a policeman, Faisal vandalised vehicles while Tauseef had snatched a senior police official’s mobile phone during the mayhem. On August 11, a sit-in protest organised to condemn alleged atrocities on minority community in Assam and Myanmar turned violent. The protesters attacked police personnel, including women constables, and torched media and police vans. PTI