Delhi's India Islamic Cultural Centre Signboard Defaced, Hindu Sena Says Its Workers Did it

New Delhi: A signboard pointing to the India Islamic Cultural Centre in the city's upscale Lodhi Road area was defaced on Sunday, allegedly by rightwing group Hindu Sena that claimed its workers were responding to radical terrorist activities in the world, particularly France. Police said the posters, declaring "Jihadi Terrorist Islamic Centre", were removed immediately and an FIR registered against unknown persons at the Tughlak Road station after the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) reported the matter.

"We have registered a case under Section 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act against unknown people. We are scanning CCTV cameras installed in and around the vicinity but have not found any relevant footage," a senior police officer said. Am NDMC official added that police was informed "to take action as per norms". Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta said he got to know that some of the group's workers were behind it. When we asked the workers (karyakartas), they said radical terrorist activities are taking place all over the world, particularly in France Our workers expressed their anger against such activities by putting posters at the India Islamic Centre, Gupta told reporters.

The Centre, which abuts the Lodhi Gardens in the heart of Lutyens Delhi, is a hub of several cultural activities, including plays and concerts. This is not the first time the Hindu Sena has defaced road signs in the national capital.

In June this year, its workers defaced a signboard outside the Chinese embassy here against the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in clashes with the Chinese troops in Ladak Galwan Valley. Last year, the Babar Road signboard was blackened by Hindu Sena workers who demanded that the name of the road be changed.

In May 2015, signboards of Akbar Road and Feroz Shah Road were plastered with posters of the group. Three people died in a knife attack at a church in Nice last week. It was described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an "Islamist terrorist attack". A few weeks ago, an assailant decapitated a French middle school teacher who showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammed for a class on free speech.

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