Crime Today News
More than 50 suspects have been “taken into custody” and five first information reports have been registered in connection with the violence that broke out in Nagpur on Monday night, PTI quoted Police Commissioner Ravinder Singal as saying on Tuesday.
The police are still identifying persons who had allegedly damaged public property, Singal told ANI.
Thirty-three police personnel were injured in the clashes on Monday, he said, adding that the situation in the violence-affected areas was now peaceful.
The communal clashes broke out on Monday night hours after Hindutva groups held a protest in the city demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Khuldabad near Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
The violence erupted in central Nagpur’s Chitnis Park at 7.30 pm. Stones were thrown at the police amid rumours that a cloth with the Islamic declaration of faith had been burnt during an agitation by a Hindutva group in the late afternoon.
The Indian Express quoted unidentified office-bearers of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal as saying that its members had only burnt an effigy of Aurangzeb during the protest.
A complaint was filed at the Ganeshpeth police station in the evening alleging desecration of the cloth with the Islamic declaration of faith, the newspaper reported.
Another clash erupted in the Hansapuri, an area close to Chitnis Park, between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm, according to reports. The violence also spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth areas.
The police fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge to disperse the mob in the Chitnis Park area.
Several bikes and cars were set on fire on Monday night.
After the violence, prohibitory orders barring public gatherings were imposed within the limits of 11 police stations of Nagpur.
On Tuesday, Singal dismissed allegations that the police had not respond adequately to the violence. “One can see the police were there from the start, no one has been hurt physically…in fact if we see because of us being in front around 33 policemen have been injured,” he told ANI.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home affairs portfolio, informed the Assembly on Tuesday that five civilians were injured in the violence. One of them is receiving intensive care, Fadnavis said.
The protesters have been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita pertaining to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and the Maharashtra Police Act, Fadnavis added.
Hindutva groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have in recent weeks stepped up their campaign to demand the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, claiming that the structure is a “symbol of pain and slavery”. The two groups held protests in several cities of Maharashtra on Monday
Fadnavis had backed the demand on March 10 but said that the removal of the tomb would have to be carried out within the ambit of the law as the site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
On Monday, Fadnavis said that the government was obligated to protect the tomb, which is a protected site, but it will not allow attempts to glorify Aurangzeb’s legacy. The preservation of the site is a matter of historical record rather than reverence, he said.
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