Jamshedpur: Over 50 people, including state BJP leader Abhay Singh, have been arrested in connection with violence following the alleged desecration of a religious flag at Shastrinagar in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur, SSP Prabhat Kumar said on Monday. Police also conducted a flag march in the area in the morning, he said. An adequate police force has been deployed at Shastrinagar to maintain law and order, the SSP said.
Prohibitory Orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) were issued and the Internet was suspended following the clash and arson over alleged desecration of a religious flag at Shastrinagar in Jamshedpur, officials said. Sources said two shops and an auto-rickshaw were set on fire by miscreants during the clash.
Police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Sources said additional police has been deployed to maintain law and order in Shastrinagar which falls under the jurisdiction of Kadma police station. Sub-Divisional Officer (Dhalbhum), Piyush Sinha said Prohibitory Orders under Section 144 of CrPC were clamped in the area.
East Singhbhum district Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadhav said some anti-social elements are trying to disturb peace and sought cooperation from the citizens to foil their plot. We have been keeping strict vigil on the situation and deployed adequate police force, a Quick Response Team, a Magistrate, Rapid Action Force personnel and other anti-riot resources to maintain law and order, the DC said in a statement.
The DC said stringent action will be taken against those who were indulging in anti-social activities and disturbing communal harmony, in connection with the incident. The police official urged the people not to pay heed to canards or share inflammatory posts on social media as well.
According to police, the tensions were running high here since Saturday night after a religious group found that a piece of meat was tagged to a Ram Navami flag. Several organisations joined and protested against the incident. They gave an ultimatum to police that the culprits involved in the incident should be arrested within 24 hours.
The tensions escalated into violence on Sunday evening after a shop was gutted in the locality and both sides clashed violently. During the violence, a mob set fire to an autorickshaw and police resorted to firing tear gas shells to control the mob. According to DIG (Kolhan) Ajay Linda, the shops and the auto-rickshaw were set on fire by the local miscreants. Senior Superintendent of Police Prabhat Kumar, Superintendent of Police (City) K Vijay Shankar and SDO have set their camps in the sensitive area.
