Till Wednesday, 141 people have been arrested in connection with the riots on the day of Eid in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The curfew implemented in the city on Tuesday continued for the second day on Wednesday. The administration has extended the curfew till the midnight of May 6. Earlier the authorities had ordered suspension of mobile internet services.
After midnight on Monday, some people from the minority community allegedly removed the saffron flag on the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa at a roundabout in the city and raised Islamic flag there, which Hindus protested. The tussle between the two communities turned into a violent clash and the police had to use force to disperse the crowd. Five policemen were also injured in the incident.
The local administration brought the situation under control with heavy deployment of police soon after the incident, but on Tuesday morning, after Eid prayers at Idgah near Jalori Gate, some people pelted stones at vehicles, houses and shops parked there. After this the tension increased again.
Five big updates regarding communal clashes in Jodhpur
On Wednesday, the police said that the situation was under control and there was no fresh incident of violence.
About one thousand policemen have been deployed to maintain law and order.
DGP ML Lather said that 141 people have been arrested in Jodhpur and 12 cases have been registered. In which four have been registered by the police while eight have been registered after the complaint of the people.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of instigating the riots on the ‘order of his high command’. Taking a dig at BJP leaders, Gehlot said that they are trying to defame the Congress party government in the state as they are unable to digest peace.
At the same time, Rajasthan Pradesh BJP President Satish Poonia alleged that communal incidents are happening ‘under the protection of the state government’.