NAGPUR: Authorities clamped a curfew across 30% of Nagpur Tuesday following clashes in the heart of the city on Monday night after protests demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Over 50 people have been arrested and 10 police teams deployed to track down other suspects. Police have filed six FIRs against more than 1,200 people, including members of VHP and Bajrang Dal. A single FIR at Ganeshpeth police station charged 650 people.
Tensions remained high but no fresh violence was reported Tuesday. Over 1,000 security personnel fortified sensitive areas while 8,000 were on standby. Police conducted marches in central Nagpur.
The riots left at least 70 wounded, two of them critically, and caused extensive damage, with mobs torching two bulldozers and 50 vehicles.
Cops in bike helmets, missed intel clues: One-sided battle exposes Nagpur security
Cops in motorbike helmets and an intelligence apparatus that allegedly missed clues to what was coming cut a sorry figure in central Nagpur late Monday as rioters, driven by rumours, outnumbered and overwhelmed them in a one-sided battle that left the Maharashtra city convulsing, report Proshun Chakraborty & Viraj Deshpande.
After battling rioters for four hours at Mahal, where the violence originated over a demand to remove Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb from Khultabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, police apparently failed to fortify other communally sensitive localities within a 3km radius. Once the protest against Aurangzeb’s tomb triggered rioting, the security establishment appeared ill-prepared to prevent the violence from spiralling.
Sources said a police contingent was sent out to tackle the rioters in makeshift protective gear. The ferocity of the attack and the team’s alleged lack of preparation left them exposed. “There was no plan in place to control the mob, with police failing to anticipate the possibility of lanes and alleys turning into battle zones. While the cops were trying to push back stone-pelters, many began vandalising vehicles and shops,” a witness said.
A senior police officer admitted to “misjudging the situation and failing to predict the mob’s movements”. “They should have known that central Nagpur is a sensitive area with a mixed population. Police should have been mobilised in other sensitive areas like Hansapuri and Mominpura to stave off an escalation in violence,” a source said.
