Police dived into an east London canal to retrieve 150 Islamic books – only to discover they had been dumped there deliberately.
It is thought a “well meaning” believer had put the books in the Limehouse Cut after misunderstanding the rules for proper disposal of the Koran.
Traditionally, people who need to dispose of Islamic texts are expected to put them in water to disintegrate, or to burn them – they should not be simply thrown away.
But this does not, of course, eliminate the need to comply with fly-tipping legislation.
Salman Farsi, a spokesman for the nearby East London Mosque, told the Standard the person who dumped the books would be “admonished” for breaking the law – if they could be identified.
“You can put books in water and hope the text kind of fades away and disintegrates,” he explained, “or burn them and put the ashes in water.
“I think it’s someone from our community who’s basically taken the wrong guidance on how to dispose of these.
“I would just say it’s a harmless misunderstanding.
“Although there is an explanation as to why you would put 150 text books into a canal, there’s obviously environmental concerns – so we’re very grateful to the police for fishing them out and making contact with us.”
The books will now be disposed of by a local cemetery.
“If they’re put in an industrial grade incinerator I don’t think they’ll need to be dried out first,” Mr Farsi added.
He dismissed suggestions the books may have been dumped as some sort of hate crime.
“If someone wanted to make a statement they’d have set the whole pile alight in the middle of a park,” he reasoned.
“For someone to put it in water, I think they had the understanding you couldn’t just throw religious texts away.”
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said there was "no evidence of any hate crime”.
He said: “Police were called at 8.27am on Thursday to Limehouse Cut to reports of Islamic texts in the water.
“Two local officers and three officers from the Marine Support Unit attended and one MSU officer entered the water and removed 180 to 200 religious texts.
“Local enquiries are being made to find the source of the books.
“However there is no evidence of any hate crime.”
Transcript of the phone conversation between the Police operator and the member of the public who reported it has been released –
Op: Hello, Metropolitan Police Bromley-by-Bow Division please state the nature of your emergency.
Pub: Ahhh…hi, erm, yes, I, I’d like to report...erm...I've found a load of books floating in the canal down by …errm.. Limehouse Cut, someone’s dumped loads of them in there and..
Op: Fly tipping? Madame, are you aware that wasting police time is…
Pub: eermm, yes but..
Op: ..a very serious offence, you should already know this, do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES contact the police - in cases of fly tipping..
Pub: b…but..
Op: contact Bromley-by-Bow Council or Docklands water authority, the police have no authority in cases of fly tipping in the canal, have you any idea…
Pub: b…but the books, some of …..
Op: …how many murderers and rapists are..
Pub: s..some of the books
Op: ..out there? To divert even a tiny portion of our already seriously depleted and underfunded police Service would be…
Pub: ..some of the books said ‘Holy Qur’an’ on the front!
Op: Madame, please stay exactly where you are and guard these books but do not touch them under any circumstances, a Special Unit will be with you within minutes and we will be sending our most senior officers to the scene who will decide how best to handle this situation after they have liaised with community leaders and the Imam from the East London Mosque, thank you for your vigilance Madame.
Transcript of the phone conversation between the Police operator and the member of the public who reported it has been released –
Op: Hello, Metropolitan Police Bromley-by-Bow Division please state the nature of your emergency.
Pub: Ahhh…hi, erm, yes, I, I’d like to report...erm...I've found a load of books floating in the canal down by …errm.. Limehouse Cut, someone’s dumped loads of them in there and..
Op: Fly tipping? Madame, are you aware that wasting police time is…
Pub: eermm, yes but..
Op: ..a very serious offence, you should already know this, do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES contact the police - in cases of fly tipping..
Pub: b…but..
Op: contact Bromley-by-Bow Council or Docklands water authority, the police have no authority in cases of fly tipping in the canal, have you any idea…
Pub: b…but the books, some of …..
Op: …how many murderers and rapists are..
Pub: s..some of the books
Op: ..out there? To divert even a tiny portion of our already seriously depleted and underfunded police Service would be…
Pub: ..some of the books said ‘Holy Qur’an’ on the front!
Op: Madame, please stay exactly where you are and guard these books but do not touch them under any circumstances, a Special Unit will be with you within minutes and we will be sending our most senior officers to the scene who will decide how best to handle this situation after they have liaised with community leaders and the Imam from the East London Mosque, thank you for your vigilance Madame.
Transcript of the phone conversation between the Police operator and the member of the public who reported it has been released –
Op: Hello, Metropolitan Police Bromley-by-Bow Division please state the nature of your emergency.
Pub: Ahhh…hi, erm, yes, I, I’d like to report...erm...I've found a load of books floating in the canal down by …errm.. Limehouse Cut, someone’s dumped loads of them in there and..
Op: Fly tipping? Madame, are you aware that wasting police time is…
Pub: eermm, yes but..
Op: ..a very serious offence, you should already know this, do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES contact the police - in cases of fly tipping..
Pub: b…but..
Op: contact Bromley-by-Bow Council or Docklands water authority, the police have no authority in cases of fly tipping in the canal, have you any idea…
Pub: b…but the books, some of …..
Op: …how many murderers and rapists are..
Pub: s..some of the books
Op: ..out there? To divert even a tiny portion of our already seriously depleted and underfunded police Service would be…
Pub: ..some of the books said ‘Holy Qur’an’ on the front!
Op: Madame, please stay exactly where you are and guard these books but do not touch them under any circumstances, a Special Unit will be with you within minutes and we will be sending our most senior officers to the scene who will decide how best to handle this situation after they have liaised with community leaders and the Imam from the East London Mosque, thank you for your vigilance Madame.
Transcript of the phone conversation between the Police operator and the member of the public who reported it has been released –
Op: Hello, Metropolitan Police Bromley-by-Bow Division please state the nature of your emergency.
Pub: Ahhh…hi, erm, yes, I, I’d like to report...erm...I've found a load of books floating in the canal down by …errm.. Limehouse Cut, someone’s dumped loads of them in there and..
Op: Fly tipping? Madame, are you aware that wasting police time is…
Pub: eermm, yes but..
Op: ..a very serious offence, you should already know this, do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES contact the police - in cases of fly tipping..
Pub: b…but..
Op: contact Bromley-by-Bow Council or Docklands water authority, the police have no authority in cases of fly tipping in the canal, have you any idea…
Pub: b…but the books, some of …..
Op: …how many murderers and rapists are..
Pub: s..some of the books
Op: ..out there? To divert even a tiny portion of our already seriously depleted and underfunded police Service would be…
Pub: ..some of the books said ‘Holy Qur’an’ on the front!
Op: Madame, please stay exactly where you are and guard these books but do not touch them under any circumstances, a Special Unit will be with you within minutes and we will be sending our most senior officers to the scene who will decide how best to handle this situation after they have liaised with community leaders and the Imam from the East London Mosque, thank you for your vigilance Madame.
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