Rioters' houses 'bulldozed' in Khergon, MP
12 Apr 2022 12:01:02
Khergon, Apr 12: Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone city on Monday arrested 84 people and demolished 50 structures owned by men accused of stoking violence during a Ram Navami procession the day before, triggering allegations that the administration was bypassing legal due process.
Violence broke out on Sunday evening as a Ram Navami procession made its way past a mosque. In the ensuing stone pelting and clashes that lasted three hours, at least a dozen houses, vehicles and shops were burnt and 27 people were injured, said police. Hindu groups blamed the Muslims for the violence even as several local residents alleged that the procession was playing objectionable songs that sparked a heated argument, leading to acrimony.
A day later, police arrested 84 people and detained 12 minors, mostly Muslims. The administration also demolished 45 structures – homes and shops -- saying they were illegally built and citing WHAT orders by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “Those who pelted stones and created the ruckus will not be spared and their houses will be turned into ruins. No one will be allowed to create disturbance in the state,” state home minister Narottam Mishra said. The state government will recover damages from the guilty, he added. Chouhan said a state tribunal will be formed to recover damages from the guilty. “In Madhya Pradesh, we have passed the Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property and Recovery of Damage Law. The rioters of Khargone will not only be punished, but the damages will also be recovered from them. The state government is setting up a claims tribunal for this,” he added.
Images of houses and shops being razed by bulldozers were beamed by television channels for most of the day, strengthening the perception that CM Chouhan was attempting to take a more strident law-and-order stand. His counterpart in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, leveraged his tough- on-crime image to a historic assembly election victory last month. Bulldozers were often parked outside his election rallies to drive home the point that “bulldozer baba” -- as local BJP leaders called him -- was unsparing to criminals. A senior police officer said that a joint team of police, district administration and municipal corporations razed four houses in Mohan Talkies area on Monday afternoon and identified 50 others, which they said were allegedly constructed illegally. All the houses were in the worst-affected areas of Khaskhaswadi, Anand Nagar, Motipura, Sanjay Nagar and Talab Chowk.