MVA government says situation in Amravati and rest of Maharashtra under control

About 85 persons held in Amravati and Nanded; Section 144 imposed in Pune rural as precautionary measure

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Pune: The law and order situation in Amravati district and other parts of Maharashtra is under control, said Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Sunday. He further announced that the motive behind the rallies called by certain organizations which led to violence and a heightening of communal tensions in some cities of the State would be probed. The Minister further informed that no casualties have been reported from Amravati thus far where a curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended.

On Friday, violence had erupted out in at least three cities in the State – Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded, after the Mumbai-based Raza Academy had reportedly given the call for a day-long shutdown to protest against incidents of mosques being allegedly vandalized in the North-Eastern Indian state of Tripura. 

“A curfew has been imposed in Amravati and the situation is now completely under control there… the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had given a call for a bandh today in rural Amravati. However, we have made provisions that no law-and-order situation should arise there.All reinforcements that could be required by the State police in sensitive places like Nanded, Malegaon, Yavatmal and other areas are in place…anti-social elements who incited the violence will be strictly investigated,” said Walse-Patil. 

On the possible role of the Mumbai-based Raza Academy, which reportedly gave the initial bandh call on Friday, the Minister added that an investigation would be conducted.

“We will probe this. Be it the Raza Academy or any other organization, their motive behind calling for a protest rally will be investigated,” he said, adding that the government would also assess the damages to property during the demonstrations. 

The violence and heightening of communal tensions that suddenly erupted in Maharashtra because of something that may or may not have happened in far-off Tripura was “utterly unwarranted”, said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while urging citizens to maintain the peace and show restraint and help local police by reporting rumors and inflammatory posts on social media.

Local authorities informed that Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been imposed in both urban and rural areas of Amravati for the next three days as well as parts of Akola district.

A total of 50 persons have been taken into custody in Amravati as an uneasy calm prevailed over the district following two days of violence, vandalism and arson. Only medical services are allowed over the next three days with a ban on gatherings of more than five persons. 

“In all 15 cases have been lodged thus far and a total of 50 persons arrested. Sticks, rods and other items used as weapons have been confiscated from these persons and there is robust police deployment in the sensitive areas of the district,” informed Amravati Commissioner of Police Dr. Aarti Singh. 

A total 11 State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) teams have been stationed in the district, where the intensity of violence and vandalism was the maximum. Units of the SRPF from Jalna, Nagpur and Hingoli districts are being deployed in Amravati.   

On November 13, curfew was imposed in Amravati city after a mob hurled stones on shops during a bandh allegedly organized by BJP in protest against rallies taken out by the minority community members. Hundreds of people, many of them holding saffron flags in their hands and raising slogans, had come out on streets which resulted in violence and damage to property, with the police compelled to lathi charge the protestors. 

In Nanded, police too have arrested 35 people. The Nanded police have stated that the situation is now under control there as well. 

An official said that violence which erupted on November 12 occurred mainly in the Vazirabad and Deglur Naka areas of Nanded city and that some police personnel had been injured in the stone pelting. 

“Four offences are registered in Nanded regarding the incident. The Nanded police have so far arrested 35 persons. The situation is under control and peaceful as of now,” said Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar Shewale. 

As a precautionary measure against the backdrop of tensions in Amravati, Section 144 of the CrPC was also imposed in the rural parts of Pune district for the next seven days till November 20. 

Pune District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh said that the preventive order had been issued to ensure that anti-social elements do not take advantage of the situation to incite violence. 

The order prohibits any person from posting or sharing any communal or objectionable content on social media while warning that the admin of WhatsApp groups where such content is found would be held responsible. The order also prohibits any gathering of five or more people at any place. 

Meanwhile, demanding that the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress led ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government should arrest the real miscreants behind the violence, BJP State President Chandrakant Patil hit out at the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government remarking that the BJP had become a soft target for the MVA. 

“No one knows what exactly happened in Tripura, but an adverse reaction to a presumed case of communal violence there occurs in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded and the BJP is targeted,” remarked Patil.