What began as a celebration to mark the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj on Monday descended into hours of chaos and violence across a 2-kilometre radius in Nagpur’s Mahal area – leaving vehicles damaged, 33 police officers injured, and a community divided in its wake.
A suo motu FIR has been filed against 500 unidentified persons by officials at the Ganeshpeth police station in connection with the violence. The number of arrests has risen to over 60, including two minors. Two other FIRs have been filed over injuries sustained by two Muslim residents in Tehsil police station limits.
A curfew remains in parts of the city with over 2,000 personnel deployed in sensitive areas and regular patrolling by the police.
Newslaundry looked at the primary FIR linked to the violence and spoke to residents and police officials to understand how it all unfolded on Monday.
The build-up
In the morning, locals had gathered at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue near Gandhi Gate in Mahal. After the event, Bajrang Dal and VHP members gathered on the spot for what would become the day’s first flashpoint: a protest demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s grave in Khuldabad, punctuated by the burning of his effigy.
Rumours about desecration and proximity to a mosque – merely 30 metres away – did not help defuse the tension. Police intervened, seemingly defusing the situation before it could escalate further.
Around 6.30 pm in the evening, residents again assembled for what should have been a celebratory occasion – the inauguration of new lighting at the historic Gandhi Gate and to offer additional garlands to Shivaji’s statue.
“While we were celebrating and chanting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai, more than 100 people who had gathered at the mosque for prayers began to object, loudly abusing Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj, and raising slogans of Allah-u-Akbar,” claimed Bhushan Bhuye, a resident of Old Hislop College Lane where the highest number of vehicles were vandalised.
The police stood between the two groups.
“The police repeatedly urged everyone to disperse and return to their homes peacefully. However, the mob at the mosque refused to comply and suddenly got aggressive…the mob targeted the police first. Despite the police’s attempts to calm the situation, they continued to be aggressive and started pelting stones on the police, forcing the police to take action with a lathicharge. As the mob fled through the narrow lanes, they caused further destruction. They hurled stones at houses, damaged vehicles, and even set some vehicles on fire,” alleged Bhuye.
The rumour was that a cloth with verses from the Quran was burnt along with Aurangzeb’s effigy by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, police said in the FIR filed at Ganeshpeth police station.
According to the FIR, after the burning of the effigy near the statue, Faheem Khan, 38, the president of a group called the Minorities Democratic Party, along with around 50 supporters, went to the police station to lodge a complaint. In his complaint, Khan alleged that Bajrang Dal and VHP activists had burned a cloth containing verses from the Quran. A case was filed against VHP and Bajrang Dal workers and Khan was told to maintain peace.
In a video reviewed by Newslaundry, Khan, along with his supporters, can be seen outside the police station, alleging that the protesters had burned a cloth containing verses from the Quran.
Despite the police urging Khan and his supporters to maintain peace, he went on to gather around 500 Muslims near the statue in the evening, the FIR claimed. Even after repeated announcements requesting the crowd to disperse and return to their homes, they allegedly refused to move. Members of the crowd were allegedly instead heard saying “let’s show the police”. “Don’t leave them or any Hindu. They are the ones who started this, they are the ones responsible for all this.”
The FIR claimed that Khan and his supporters also spread rumours on social media with the intent to incite violence. The mob allegedly attacked the police at Bhaldarpura Chowk with stones, lathis, and sharp-edged weapons. They also hurled petrol bombs at the police.
More than 30 policemen were injured, including three DCP-rank officers.
Abhijit Mahshabde, a resident of Mahal, claimed, “On March 17, the VHP staged protests across Maharashtra, demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s grave. However, riots only erupted in Nagpur, and that was because of rumours spread by individuals at the mosque. These individuals, who had witnessed the burning of Aurangzeb’s effigy, began circulating false claims.”
‘Women officers not spared’
According to the FIR, the rioters did not spare even women police officers.
“You are police officials from the Hindu community, and you have purposely helped them burn our chaadar (cloth with Quranic verses),” they allegedly said, as per the FIR.
The mob went on to vandalise a police vehicle that was parked on the road and pelted stones at the police from both sides at Geetanjali Chowk. They also set fire to two PCR vans. In the area between Chitnis Park and Naitik Chowk, rioters burned down vehicles and even attempted to set fire to homes. At Ganjipeth, they torched two construction cranes with petrol bombs and continued to pelt stones at houses, damaging vehicles in the process.
Nagpur (traffic) DCP Archit Chandak, Nagpur, who was on the ground for over three-and-a-half hours to control the mob, sustained severe injuries to his leg and is currently hospitalised. “On the evening of March 17, when we learnt that an aggressive protest had erupted near the Shivaji Maharaj statue, I rushed to the location. I arrived at 7.25 pm, and by then, they were already raising inflammatory slogans. By 8 pm, there were about 100 people, and their numbers were increasing rapidly.”
“Despite our repeated requests for them to disperse, they turned increasingly aggressive. They started banging on shutters…To control the situation, we had no choice but to resort to a lathi charge. As the crowd fled through the narrow lanes, they began hurling stones at us...I was struck by a large concrete block on my leg, which was thrown by the mob. There was ongoing construction activity in the area, and they used concrete blocks as projectiles. The entire riot unfolded within a two-kilometre-radius in Mahal…we managed to contain the attack in these areas itself.”
Shashikant Satav, another DCP-rank officer who injured his ankle while controlling the riots, said, “The commissioner, joint commissioner and five of us DCP-rank officers were there to explain to the mob. In fact, commissioner sir himself negotiated with the mob and told them that strict action will be taken against those who had protested in the morning. But the mob was not ready to listen.”
The other cases
Meanwhile, two FIRs have been filed over injuries sustained by two Muslim residents in Tehsil police station limits.
Forty-four-year-old Irfan Ansari, who was on his way to Nagpur station to catch a train to Itarasi, became a victim of the violence and is currently receiving treatment at Mayo Hospital in Nagpur.
His younger brother, Imran Ansari, a resident of Peeli Nadi, told Newslaundry, “My brother was traveling to the station in an auto, but when the driver saw the mob, he stopped the vehicle near Geetanjali Talkies. The driver informed him that he couldn’t go any further. Since the station was only about half-a-kilometre away, my brother decided to walk. Unfortunately, he was assaulted along the way. He was later found lying on the road by the police, who immediately took him to the hospital.”
Reena Khan, a resident of Momin Pura and the mother of 17-year-old Raza Yousaf Khan, who was also injured in the violence, claimed, “My son had gone to offer taraweeh prayers. After he finished the prayers around 11.30 pm, I called him and asked him to bring some milk on his way back. However, about an hour later, I received a call from Mayo Hospital informing me that my son was there. When I went to the hospital, I found him covered in blood. He is currently in the ICU.”
Residents of Old Hislop College Lane have filed a complaint about damaged vehicles at the Ganeshpeth police station, but an FIR is yet to be filed. Officials said they are in the process of filing an FIR and the same will be done by Thursday.
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