Hindu Mahasabha activists held for performing puja at Taj Mahal

Three Hindu Mahasabha activists, including a woman, were arrested while trying to offer prayers at Taj Mahal.

They were caught by CISF personnel and handed over to local police, which booked them under IPC section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground religion, etc) at Tajganj police station.

The three activists, Meena Diwakar, provincial chief of the organisation, district in-charge Jitendra Kushwaha and one Vishal Singh entered the monument's premises and offered water, which they carried in a bottle, to Lord Sun near a central tank on the occasion of Maha Shivratri on Thursday.

They were caught by CISF personnel when they were going to offer prayers before the main mausoleum. Later, Hindu Mahasabha activists staged a protest outside the police station and demanded their release.

Tajganj police station in-charge Umesh Tripathi said that Kushwaha and Vishal have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Diwakar was issued a notice as she fell ill and was taken to S.N. Medical college for treatment.

This was the second such incident in the last three years. In November 2018, a group of women activists performed puja in the mosque, located inside the complex of Taj Mahal. The organisation claims that Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple and was called Tejo Mahalaya.