New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch saw violence on Monday, May 16, after a group of people attempted to install an idol of the Hindu deity Hanuman near a Muslim dargah.
Police have clamped Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the area.
Hindustan Times has reported that there was stone pelting and arson before that. A motorcycle and a cooler at the dargah located in the Purani Kachahari area were set on fire. The dargah is reportedly a century old and is on Waqf-owned land.
A mob is also suspected to have targeted religious places in the Court Mohalla area of Neemuch, Siasat has reported.
In Neemuch A religious place was set on fire after installing an idol on Dargah's wall. Dargah & Mosque are 700-meter apart.
Officials confirmed that a mob set a religious place on fire, pelted stones on homes of a minority community after installing a idol. Via – @KashifKakvi pic.twitter.com/vrmoA5Jkle— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 16, 2022
A 23-year-old man, Younus, and a police officer have been injured in the violence.
Superintendent Suraj Verma told HT that heated arguments had preceded the stone pelting episode.
He said some people placed an idol (of Hanuman) near the dargah, which led to an argument between two groups gathered at the spot, which is under the jurisdiction of the Neemuch city police station area.
Reporter Kashif Kakvi has tweeted that the dargah was 700 metres from a mosque.
Curfew imposed in MP's Neemuch city after mob set a religious place on fire in Court Mohalla hours after installing an idol on Dargah's wall. Dargah & Mosque are 700-meter apart.
A few rioters were detained, tension prevailed, confirmed officials. @newsclickin
1/N pic.twitter.com/pnoS0nX3s0
— काश/if Kakvi (@KashifKakvi) May 16, 2022
The police then told members of the two groups to come to the police control room for a discussion, but some allegedly started throwing stones, damaging motorcycles, Verma said.
Verma told The Quint that Neemuch police have registered four FIRs, one of which was suo motu. Nine people had been taken in for interrogation.
The official also said that the police will examine the CCTV footage of the area and take action against those involved in stone-pelting.
The Neemuch violence is one in a series of incidents involving places of Muslim worship across India.
Last year, Indian Express had reported that a shrine in Neemuch district was vandalised and three people, including the caretaker, were beaten, tied up and looted, by 20 unidentified men who alleged illegal conversions were taking place.
Parts of Madhya Pradesh, in April this year, saw communal violence during Ram Navami celebrations as well, following which the administration took up a demolition drive targeting Muslims’ properties in Khargone.