"The accused identified as S Madan and K M Uday Kumar hatched a plan and allegedly burnt down the main door of the religious place in order to provoke communal tension in the area and to obtain possession of the land adjacent to the structure, which was under dispute," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) Ch Srikanth said.
Earlier, Chintal Bazar's Jamia Mosque Committee President Nazeer Khan lodged a complaint with the police saying unknown persons burnt down the main door of the religious place at around 12.30 am today.
During the course of investigation into the complaint, Madan and Uday were arrested while two others Sandeep and Bharat went underground, the DCP said, adding efforts are on to trace them.
According to police, an ongoing dispute between two groups on erecting an electric transformer on the land near the structure was the main cause behind the incident.
While one group is claiming the land to be a Wakf Board property, the other group says the land belonged to Cantonment Board, the DCP said.
"In view of the recent communal disturbances in Old City, the accused in order to provoke communal tension in the area set on fire the door of the religious place," Srikanth said.
