Nagpur violence: 15 arrested, prohibitory orders imposed

Nagpur: As violence erupted in Nagpur’s Hansapuri on Monday, the authorities imposed prohibitory orders in the city. Around nine people including six civilians and three policemen were injured in the clash that erupted amid rumours that the holy book of Quran was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing body for the removal of Aurangazeb’s tomb. Police arrested 15 persons from various localities in Mahal area in connection with the violence. 

Addressing the media, Nagpur Commissioner of Police Dr Ravinder Singal said that section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita ( empowering Magistrates to issue immediate preventive orders in urgent cases to prevent obstruction, danger to human life, public disturbance, or riots, and can be directed at individuals, specific areas, or the general public) has been imposed in the city.

The violence reportedly broke out in Chitnis park of central Nagpur around 7.30 pm on Monday. A group of people pelted stones at police amid the protest over Quran burning.

Police fired tear gas shells and resorted to cane-charge to disperse the mob in Mahal, which houses RSS headquarters. Violence also reportedly spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth in the late afternoon, officials said.

DCP Niketan Kadam was seriously injured during a combing operation, while two other cops also sustained injuries.

Vehicles torched, houses vandalised
According to police, Chitnish Park to Shukrawari Talao road belt was most affected by violence as per the preliminary information, where some four-wheelers were set afire by rioters. Stones were also thrown at the homes of residents.

Another clash broke out in the Hansapuri area near the Old Bhandara Road between 10:30 pm to 11:30 pm. An unruly mob burnt several vehicles, and vandalised houses and a clinic in the area.

A resident of the Hansapuri area, Sharad Gupta (50)  said that the mob came between 10.30 to 11.30 and threw stones and torched the vehicles. Gupta who injured in the attack said that the mob set his four two-wheelers on fire and also vandalised a neighbour's shop. He added that the police arrived an hour later.

Angry residents called for immediate police action against the mob. A PTI Correspondent spotted a couple locking their house and leaving for a safer place around 1.20 am.

Chandrakant Kawde, another resident, who was working for Ramnavami Shobha Yatra said the mob burnt all his decoration articles and threw stones at the houses. Some of the residents came out in their galleries and watched as a posse of cops led by senior officers marched into the lanes.

A resident of the Hansapuri area speaking to PTI said that the mob came to their home at around 10.30 pm and burnt their vehicles parked outside the house and a fire also broke out as they torched vehicles and properties.

"We doused the fire by putting water from the first floor of our house before the fire brigade came," she said.

Another resident, Vansh Kawle, said that the mob had covered their faces and broke the CCTV camera. They also tried to break into their homes.

One more resident who has a tea stall in front of a clinic said that the mob entered the clinic (Bandu clinic), broke all the tables and medicines and vandalised the clinic and tea stall.

Police have been deployed in the Hansapuri area, officials said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister from Nagpur, Nitin Gadkari, have appealed for peace and harmony in the wake of the violence.