The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district have filed a first information report against an imam, or religious leader, for allegedly playing a loudspeaker at a mosque beyond the permissible decibel limit, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

Maulana Rafique Khan, the imam of Ghumthal village, had been repeatedly warned against breaching the decibel limit following complaints from residents, the newspaper quoted the police as saying.

However, the decibel level at which the loudspeaker was playing was not specified.

Khan was booked on a complaint by Sub-Inspector Sonu Chaudhary, who claimed that he found the mosque’s loudspeaker volume exceeding permissible levels during a routine patrol.

Manoj Verma, the station house officer of Baniyather Police Station, said that Chaudhary had previously warned the imam against playing the loudspeaker at a high volume, The Indian Express reported.

“When his [Chaudhary’s] instructions were ignored, the officer lodged a formal complaint that led to the registration of the FIR,” the newspaper quoted Verma as saying.

The FIR against Khan was filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant and continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue.

Verma also claimed that some residents had earlier complained about the loudspeaker’s high volume.

A police team had visited the mosque and advised the imam to keep the sound within permissible limits, he was quoted as saying.

“Since no corrective action was taken and the violation was repeated, the police have now initiated legal proceedings in the matter,” The Indian Express quoted Verma as saying.

Ghumthal is a Hindu-majority village, unidentified police officers told The Indian Express.

Security personnel have been deployed at the village as a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incident, Verma added.

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