At least 25 people have been arrested and three cases were registered by the Aarey police in Goregaon in connection with rioting and attempt to murder after two groups pelted each other with stones during a procession on Sunday night. The police sources said that more arrests are likely to be made.
The police said that the ruckus started around 8.50 pm when a group was engaged in kalash yatra. As the group passed through Buddha Nagar in Aarey, some residents objected and did not allow the procession to go through, following which an argument violent and both parties began pelting stones at each other.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 12) Somnath Gharge said that nobody sustained serious injuries. A senior police officer said that a misunderstanding between the two groups was a trigger for conflict leading to stone-pelting.
“The police teams were rushed to the spot and 25 people were taken into custody. Both parties have filed complaints against each other. More arrests are likely to be made,” DCP Gharge said. Following the communal tension, police deployment was increased in Aarey Colony, the temple was covered and use of loudspeakers was prohibited as a precautionary measure.
Mishap triggers communal clash in Vadodara
A minor road accident led to a communal clash in Vadodara city, with rioters throwing stones, vandalising a shrine and damaging vehicles, the police said on Monday, adding that three persons were injured. The police have arrested 22 people – 19 for rioting after the incident that occurred late Sunday and three in connection with the road accident – the police said.
Curfew in Achalpur over removal of flags
Curfew was clamped in Achalpur city in Amravati district after members of two communities pelted each other with stones over the removal of religious flags, and the police responded by firing tear gas shells, officials said on Monday. Additional Superintendent of Police Shashikant Satav said that 22 people from both the groups have been taken into custody after the incident which occurred around Sunday midnight and the situation is under control now. The police said that residents put up flags of various religions atop the Khidki Gate and the Dulha Gate at the main entrance of Achalpur, located 48km from Amravati district headquarters, every year during various festivals. “On Sunday midnight, some anti-social elements removed flags of religion, leading to an altercation which escalated into stone-pelting. The police used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd,” a police inspector said.
1st death confirmed in Khargone violence
A 30-year-old man who went missing during communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone has become the first fatality of violence, but his death has raised allegations of cover-up, with the kin of the deceased accusing the police of keeping his death under wraps for eight days. The body of Ibresh Khan was kept at a government hospital in Indore for eight days after it was found in Khargone's Anand Nagar as the freezer facility was not available in Khargone, the police said on Monday. A police officer said that Ibresh Khan died due to serious injuries to his head caused by stones.
Communal clashes had broken out in Khargone city on April 10 during a Ram Navami procession, leading to arson and stone-pelting, leading to the clamping of curfew. Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary had received a bullet injury during the violence. “An unidentified body was found the next day (April 11) of communal violence in the Anand Nagar area of Khargone,” Superintendent of Police Rohit Kashwani said. He said since there was no freezer facility available in Khargone, the body was kept at the Indore Government Hospital after postmortem. Kashwani said the family members of Ibresh Khan registered a missing person complaint on April 14.
Delhi: Cops attacked by suspect's kin
A Delhi Police team came under a “minor attack” on Monday when it went to the house of a man who was seen firing a gunshot during violence in Jahangirpuri. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Usha Rangnani said a northwest district police team had gone to the suspect's house in CD Park Road for a search and examination of his family members. “His family members pelted two stones at the police team. Legal action is being taken. One person has been detained in this case. The situation is completely under control now,” she said.
In a purported video of the Saturday violence, the man, wearing a blue shirt, was seen opening fire during the clashes that had erupted when a Hanuman Jayanti procession was passing through localities in Jahangirpuri.
...and a demand to produce more babies
Hindutva leader Sadhvi Rithambara has urged every Hindu couple to produce four children and dedicate two of them to the nation, saying India will soon become a “Hindu Rashtra”. Referring to Saturday's communal violence in Delhi's Jahangirpuri, she said “those who attacked the Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra were jealous of the progress made by the country”. “Those who are trying to divide Hindu society through political terrorism will be razed to dust,” she said.
Addressing a Ram Mahotsav programme at Nirala Nagar on Sunday, she said Hindu women follow the principle of “Hum do, hamare do”. “But I would like to request all Hindu couples to produce four children each. Of these, two should be dedicated to the nation, while the rest two will be for the family,” she said.
She said a Uniform Civil Code should be implemented in the country, so that there was no population imbalance. “If there is a population imbalance in the country, the future of the country will not be good,” she said on Monday. Asked if she has urged parents to dedicate their children to the RSS, she said, “Yes. I have asked them to dedicate them to the RSS. Make them VHP workers and also dedicate themselves to the nation.”
