What began as a celebration to mark the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj on Monday descended into hours of chaos and violence across a 2-kilometre radius in Nagpur’s Mahal area – leaving vehicles damaged, 33 police officers injured, and a community divided in its wake.
A suo motu FIR has been filed against 500 unidentified persons by officials at the Ganeshpeth police station in connection with the violence. The number of arrests has risen to over 60, including two minors. Two other FIRs have been filed over injuries sustained by two Muslim residents in Tehsil police station limits.
A curfew remains in parts of the city with over 2,000 personnel deployed in sensitive areas and regular patrolling by the police.
Newslaundry looked at the primary FIR linked to the violence and spoke to residents and police officials to understand how it all unfolded on Monday.
The build-up
In the morning, locals had gathered at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue near Gandhi Gate in Mahal. After the event, Bajrang Dal and VHP members gathered on the spot for what would become the day’s first flashpoint: a protest demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s grave in Khuldabad, punctuated by the burning of his effigy.
Rumours about desecration and proximity to a mosque – merely 30 metres away – did not help defuse the tension. Police intervened, seemingly defusing the situation before it could escalate further.
Around 6.30 pm in the evening, residents again assembled for what should have been a celebratory occasion – the inauguration of new lighting at the historic Gandhi Gate and to offer additional garlands to Shivaji’s statue.
“While we were celebrating and chanting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai, more than 100 people who had gathered at the mosque for prayers began to object, loudly abusing Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj, and raising slogans of Allah-u-Akbar,” claimed Bhushan Bhuye, a resident of Old Hislop College Lane where the highest number of vehicles were vandalised.
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.
