Communal tension gripped the Walled City of Jaipur on Saturday when a youth died, allegedly after being thrashed by a crowd following a misunderstanding about a road accident. The victim, 18-year-old Iqbal Raza, was a bystander mistaken as a person responsible for the mishap.
Two motorcycles collided in the Subhash Chowk area late on Friday night, after which a crowd gathered there and allegedly attacked Mr. Raza and another person with rods and sticks. While the other person escaped, Mr. Raza was lying in a pool of blood when the police arrived at the spot. He was rushed to a hospital, where it was declared that he had been brought dead. The post-mortem was carried out at Sawai Man Singh Hospital.
Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said that the incident was caused by a misunderstanding. Nearly a dozen persons were detained on suspicion of being involved in the assault of the youth.
Tensions controlled
Mr. Raza’s family members and the people of the Ramganj locality, where the family lives, staged a demonstration on Saturday morning, leading to tensions in the Walled City. The situation was brought under control with the deployment of the Special Task Force, Rajasthan Armed Constabulary, and an additional police force.
As the markets and schools in the area were closed and people gathered in large numbers on the Ramganj-Badi Chaupar Road demanding action against the accused, the police used drones to monitor the situation. Those opposed to the protestors also gathered at a spot and raised slogans. The police said that no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the Walled City.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com. Read the full story here