Dumraon tense but peaceful; four held

Darpan Singh

Patna/Dumraon, October 5
AN ERRIE silence prevails in Dumraon following the large-scale violence that followed a clash between members of two communities during immersion of Durga idols on Wednesday night. More than 10 persons from both the communities were injured in the violence. Property worth thousands of rupees was destroyed by a rampaging mob led by various puja committee activists. Some policemen were also injured in the mêlée. An FIR, in which four persons were named accused, was lodged in this connection and, by Thursday evening, the police had succeeded in arresting all the four. On Thursday, most areas of the town wore a deserted look as shops remained closed out of precaution and auto-rickshaws and buses kept off the roads. Most of the sub-divisional town has been converted into a police garrison with the district administration deploying cops in large numbers to prevent further disturbance. Paramilitary forces conducted a flag march to normalise the situation. Armed police from different police stations of the district, besides jawans from SAP, BMP and the CRPF, have also been deployed and Section 144 of the CrPC has been clamped on the town in view of the tense situation prevailing in the area. Shahabad DIG, Buxar DM and SP, besides other senior officials of the district administration, were camping in Dumraon to monitor the situation. On receiving information, the SP of neighbouring Bhojpur district also reached Dumraon with reinforcement. Sources said trouble started when some youths, allegedly in an inebriated condition, threw stones at a Durga idol that was being taken to Buxar for immersion and caused some damages to it. This led to a violent clash between members of the two communities that left more than 10 persons injured. Soon, a mob led by puja committee members went on the rampage and damaged several shops, rickshaws and thelas (pushcarts) belonging to a particular community. Because of the violence, several idols on way to immersion ghats were held up for hours and their procession could proceed late at night only after the intervention of IG (Admn) who spoke, on phone from Patna, to the puja committee members who had assembled at Dumraon police station. Buxar DM Rashid Ahmad Khan described the situation as ‘peaceful and under control’ and said those who had been arrested for causing the violence would be dealt with severely if found guilty. Some local people, including Vijay Rai and Manoj Kumar Singh, said the police, who had to run for cover themselves in the face of heavy brick-batting, could have averted the incident had they taken precautionary measures. Meanwhile, a peace meeting was organised at the Dumraon police station on Thursday, which was attended by the DM, SP, SDO, and the SDPO, besides former DGP R R Prasad, office-bearers of the Red Cross Society and local residents. They appealed to the people to maintain communal peace and harmony. National president of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj Ali Anwar, who hails from the trouble-torn area, attributed the incident to some anti-social elements who were out to disturb peace in the area.