A local court issued a non-bailable warrant against Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan on Monday for avoiding court orders.
The court of ADJ (Fast Track) Ravi Kumar Diwakar issued the warrant against Tauqeer Raza Khan and ordered CO City (I ) to serve the warrant, arrest, and present him in the court by March 13.
The court had earlier summoned the Maulana on Monday, accusing him of being the mastermind of the 2010 Bareilly riots. However, the police could not trace him so far despite several attempts.
The police informed the court that the house of Maulana Tauqeer Raza is locked for many days. Even his family members were not found while his mobile number either remains switched off or calls are not received.
According to neighbours, the Maulana has been in Delhi for a long time.
In 2010, during the Juloos-e-Mohammadi procession in Bareilly, violence broke out between two communities in the city. Rioters had set about 20 shops on fire in the vegetable market near the Qutubkhana Bazar intersection. Orders were issued to close all the schools and colleges of the city and helicopter surveillance was done in the troubled areas.
In the aftermath of the developments, communal harmony was in danger in the entire division and curfew was to be clamped for several days. The court considered IMC President Maulana Tauqeer Raza as the main conspirator behind the riots.