JAMSHEDPUR: Curfew was imposed in the Steel City on Wednesday after group clashes were reported. Earlier, Jamshedpur responded partially to a bandh call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday demanding arrest of the culprits who sexually harassed a girl. The incident, which took place on Sunday evening, took a communal colour late on Monday night with members of two communities resorting to brick-batting and arson, forcing the police to open fire in the air to disperse the mob.
Altogether six FIRs were lodged during the last 24 hours after the clash broke out between two groups at Mango police station area over the incident. As many as 150 people were named accused in the FIRs and 103 people were arrested in connection with the clash, PTI reported.
Police said people blocked the Mango-Dimna road near the Hanuman temple in Mango around 11pm demanding arrest of the culprits. By the time police could pacify the agitating crowd and remove the blockade, several people of another community, including some returning from Eid mela at Gandhi Maidan, Mango, gathered at a distance of a few metres from the agitation spot.
The situation got tense when some anti-social elements in the crowd raised slogans in support of the particular community demonstrating at the temple. This apparently provoked the crowd on the other side and led to stone-pelting. By the time the police realized the magnitude of the crisis, the situation had almost gone out of control with both sides resorting to stone-pelting, vandalism and arson. Some roadside shops and a lodge were vandalized and a few two-wheelers parked on the roadside were set on fire by the rioters.
Six police personnel, including deputy superintendent (headquarter) B N Singh and city DSP Animesh Nathani sustained injuries in the stone-pelting. Police had to fire in the air to disperse the mob.
Following three hours of violence, the district administration clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Dhalbhum area early Tuesday morning. “Prohibitory orders have been promulgated to maintain law and order,” said Dhalbhum SDO Alok Kumar, claiming that the situation was now under control. Two civilians were injured in the stone-pelting too, police said. There’s no official word if any arrest has been made.
As the news of the violence spread on Tuesday morning, several schools closed down before scheduled hours and markets remained shut. Petrol pumps and cinemas halls were also closed through the day. Heavy police deployment was made on the Sakchi-Mango stretch as VHP activists blocked the Jai Prakash Setu on the Subernarekha river in support of their dawn-to-dusk bandh.
Sources said a local girl from Daiguttu locality was sexually harassed by a couple of men on Sunday evening while was returning home from a nearby cinema hall after watching Bajrangi Bhaijan. The residents of Daiguttu complained to the local police about the incident, but no action was taken. The sources said that the two men went to Daiguttu with a pistol and threatened the people who complained to the police. This apparently provoked the locals to hit the streets and block the road.
VHP functionary Avatar Singh said: “We demand the arrest of the miscreants who harassed the girl.” Security personnel conducted a flag-march in the affected areas and also prevented movement of people in groups in Mango, Azadbasti, Daiguttu, Old Purulia road and in Dimna road. “Situation in Mango is tense but it is under control because of the heavy police deployment,” said a senior police officer.
Earlier on Tuesday, rioters tried to vandalize a mosque in Mango’s Munsi Mohallah, but were thwarted by the police. Apart from the district police, JAP and RAF personnel are also overseeing law and order situation in the town under the supervision of SSP Anoop T Mathew.
Reports of scuffle between the bandh activists and those opposing it came from several police station areas. “Anti-social elements bent on disturbing communal peace are behind the flare-up,” said state Congress leader SRA Rizvi Chabban, demanding stern action against rioters. District education officer Indra Bhushan Singh said: “In the wake of tense law and order situation all educational institutions in the city area will remain closed on Wednesday.”