Aurangabad returned to normalcy after Friday night’s communal riot, which left two dead and 45 injured in stone-pelting and petrol bomb incidents.
Though disconnection of water supply at a mosque in Motikaranja area is cited as the cause of the riot, a few other reasons have also came forward as possible triggers.
In the tension that followed, a mob set ablaze about 65 shops and 55 vehicles belonging to both the communities. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was imposed in the city and internet services suspended.
The incident broke out at Gandhi Nagar area of old Aurangabad. Incensed, people from the minority community dubbed municipal employees’ action as biased and demanded that water supply of a temple in Hindu-dominated Gandhi Nagar also be snapped. This led to an argument between the two groups but they managed to resolve it without letting the tension escalate.
However, the news of the incident went viral on social media and rumours spread thick and fast across the city. Around 10 pm, incidents of stone-pelting started in old Aurangabad area and continued overnight. The police reached the spot and tried to handle the situation but soon similar incidents started in Shahagunj, Chelipura, Moti Karanja, Raja Bazaar and Roshan Gate area.
A mob set ablaze vehicles, shops and residences. Incidents of petrol bombs being hurled also took place. The mob pelted stones on police vans too, injuring at least 10 personnel. Soon, extra police force, a company of State Reserve Police Force, Riots Control Force, Rapid Action Force and 10 vans of fire brigade were deployed. An old Sansthan Ganesh temple was destroyed after a perfume shop adjoining it was set ablaze by the mob.
The police used teargas shells, baton charge and plastic bullets to bring the situation under control. Aurangabad Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe said on Saturday that the situation was under control across the city.
He did not rule out the possibility that the incident could be a reaction to another four-day-old incident that had taken place at a fruit stall. In Shahagunj, an altercation had taken place between the people of two communities when one bought mangoes from the other’s fruit stall and then sought to return them, complaining of poor quality.
Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele, Shiv Sena district chief Ambadas Danve, MP Chandrakant Khaire, and former MP Pradeep Jaiswal were among the politicians who visited the affected areas on Friday night. They asked people to keep calm. Khaire performed rituals at Sansthan Ganesha temple on Saturday morning.
Differently-abled among 2 dead
Of the two who died in the clashes, one was differently-abled. The incident took place when a mob set afire a shop in Shahagunj around 5.30 am on Saturday, according to City Chowk police station sources. Shopowner Jaganlal Babulal Bansile, 62, who suffered from a physical disability, was sleeping inside it. People shifted his family members from his home adjacent to the shop. They tried moving him out too but couldn’t because of the raging flames. He tried to leave but failed and died on the spot.
Another casualty, Abdul Harun Kadri, 17, was injured in police firing on Friday night. He was first admitted to a local clinic and later shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Saturday morning. He succumbed to his injuries at 9.30 am, the police said. The 45-odd people who were injured are admitted at GMCH and around 10 at Mahatma Gandhi Mission (MGM) hospital said, the police said.
ACP, inspector among injured
About 10 policemen were injured in stone-pelting. A stone hit Assistant Police Commissioner Gowardhan Kolekar’s neck, leaving him badly hurt. He was admitted to a private hospital. ACP (crime) Rameshwar Thorat received minor injuries in this incident. City Chowk police station’s inspector Hemant Kadam and PI Shripad Paropkari were also admitted to hospital after they were injured in a scuffle with the mob.
Internet services suspended
To check rumours, the police department asked telecom companies to stop internet services in the city. Reliance Jio mobile services were stopped at 11 am while the other services were suspended after 2 pm for 48 hours, Bharambe said.
Politicospeak
Aurangabad’s Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire said the police failed in handling the incident. He said Shiv Sena activists had been trying to bring the situation under control since Friday night but no policemen were present there. He said that of three DCPs, two are on leave.
Khaire claimed he informed the chief minister about the incident around 3.30 am and asked that he give personal attention to it. Maharashtra Minister of State Deepak Kesarkar visited Aurangabad to take stock of the situation. He said everything was under control in the city.
Aurangabad East MLA Atul Save of BJP said he too had informed about the incident to the chief minister, who assured him that extra police force would be deployed. He said the police took action and the situation was normal now.
Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra chief Abu Azmi visited the affected areas in the evening.
Photos: 101Reporters
Aarteeshymal Joshi is an Aurangabad-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
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