Police on Wednesday arrested a ‘key accused’ – identified as Faheem Khan, someone who ‘incited’ the violence, the cops said, behind riots in Maharashtra’s Nagpur this week, as two communities clashed over demands to relocate the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb out of the state.
A local politician – from the Minority Democratic Party – Khan will be in custody till Friday.
So far 60 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.
The cops, meanwhile, are also “examining if this (the violence) was the act of a single person or an organisation”. So far, they have registered six cases and filed complaints against 1,200 people, of whom less than 200 have been named so far. The rest are being tracked down.
Police action today comes after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy, Eknath Shinde, on Tuesday declared the violence a “premeditated conspiracy” by unknown persons.
Mr Fadnavis said the the violence began after Hindu protesters – including members of hardline groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajgrang Dal – burnt a “symbolic grave with bundles of grass”.
Then there were rumours spread, he said (hence, the ‘conspiracy’) that there was religious text on the green-coloured cloth used to cover the “symbolic grave”.
READ | D Fadnavis Calls Nagpur Violence A “Conspiracy”, Gets Manipur Counter
“After namaz (Friday prayers) a crowd of 250 people came to the place and started shouting slogans. When people started saying they would set vehicles on fire, police used force,” he said.
The Chief Minister, in a comment that raised eyebrows and invited caustic retorts from the opposition, also seemed to blame a Hindi movie for the violence.
The movie in question – ‘Chhava‘ starring Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna, which is the story of the war between the Maratha empire, led by Chhatrapti Shivaji’s son, Sambhaji, and the Mughals.
The violence in Nagpur – which is also home to the head office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ruling BJP’s ideological mentor – broke late Monday evening in pockets across the city. Shops and homes were vandalised and vehicles set on fire as mobs ran rampant.
According to some complainants, “the protest turned violent when the crowd began hurling stones and throwing petrol bombs at police officers”. The cops were then reportedly attacked by people with “deadly weapons”. Police action, it was said, was prompted by threats to the safety of civilians.
There are also allegations of female cops being sexually harassed.
Amid allegations, from both sides, of inaction – which the cops have refuted – 38 people were injured, including 33 police officers. One cop was attacked with an axe, the Chief Minister said.
The violence in Nagpur broke late Monday evening.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
Imposed Tuesday, a curfew within the limits of 10 city police stations remains in force.
The opposition, led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena group, has been fiercely critical of the BJP-led Mahayuti, demanding Mr Fadnavis accept accountability and resign.
Mr Thackeray on Tuesday questioned the need for any violence on this issue, particularly since Aurangzeb has been dead for 318 years and is buried in a small, unmarked corner of the state.
READ | “Someone Who Lived 300 Years Ago…”: U Thackeray On Aurangzeb Row
His comment was echoed by his son, Aaditya Thackeray, who accused the BJP of orchestrating this controversy to distract from the failures of its government. In a sharp attack of his own, Thackeray junior also accused the BJP of trying to “make a Manipur of Maharashtra”.
NDTV Premium | Aurangzeb’s Unremarkable Tomb Sparks A Massive Storm
Aurangzeb’s grave is a historical monument protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, a decision by an earlier administration that the Chief Minister has publicly rued, saying, “We want the same thing (to remove the grave) but you need to do it within the framework of the law.”
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