MARCH 31, 2023
Violent incidents were reported in West Bengal’s Howrah for the second consecutive day after clashes on Ram Navami. Clashes also erupted in Sasaram and Nalanda of Bihar.
Violence broke out between two groups when a procession was taken out on Thursday evening in Howrah. Several vehicles were torched and shops were ransacked. A day after violent clashes, another incident of stone-pelting occurred today in Howrah’s Kazipara area.
Meanwhile, internet services have been suspended in some areas within the jurisdiction of Howrah Town, Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate and Barrackpore Police Commissionerate till 2 am Saturday in the wake of violence.
In Vadodara, stones were hurled at two separate Ram Navami processions when they were passing through the city’s communally-sensitive areas of Fatehpura and nearby Kumbharwada. At least two persons were injured in stone-pelting by a mob at Kumbharwada, the police said.
Here are the latest updates on violence on Ram Navami:
- CM Mamata Banerjee and Governor C V Ananda Bose reviewed the situation and prohibitory orders imposed besides increasing riot police deployment in the area.
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed that the BJP along with other right-wing organisations was responsible for violence in the industrial town of Howrah on Ram Navami.
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday spoke to West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose over the violence during a Ram Navami procession in Howrah and took stock of the situation, sources said. During the telephonic conversation, the home minister sought to know the prevailing situation in the state, particularly in the violence-hit areas of Howrah.
- West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said those who resort to violence under the illusion that they can hoodwink the people will soon realize they are in a fool’s paradise.
- The BJP filed a PIL in the Calcutta High Court over incidents of violence and attack on the Ram Navami processions at Howrah and Dalkhola. The party an NIA probe and immediate deployment of Central Forces in such areas.
- BJP West Bengal chief Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah over the Howrah violence and demanded an NIA probe.
- A stone-pelting incident was reported in Bihar’s Sasaram following the Ram Navami procession. Miscreants set two houses on fire and torched vehicles. Shahabad DIG Naveen Chandra Jha said the situation is under control now in Sasaram.
- Clashes broke out between two groups near Gagan Diwan under Laheri Police Station area in Nalanda. Stone pelting and arson of vehicles also occurred. Police and administration officials were present at the spot, ANI reported.
- Police have apprehended more than 20 persons in connection with a clash between two groups during a Ram Navami procession in Mumbai’s Malvani area, an official said on Friday.
- As many as seven persons have been arrested following a mob attack on a police station in central Maharashtra’s Aurangabad (Sambhajinagar) while an injured man died in hospital, police said on Friday. Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais spoke to CM Eknath Shinde and urged him to ensure stern action against arsonists in Sambhajinagar.
News16 / (With PTI inputs)
