NAGPUR: Twenty-four hours after the heart of Nagpur was torn apart by mob violence, at least 30% of the city remained under curfew with 1000-strong police, riot control squad and state reserve police force fortifying communally sensitive areas.
Another 8,000 cops have been put on standby even as ground zero Mahal and Hansapuri remained tense and barricaded. Police on Tuesday registered six FIRs against at least 1,200 accused, including members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, who burnt an effigy of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb that triggered arson late Monday.
Though over 50 persons have been arrested, 10 police teams have been set up to track down other accused.
Of the 70 injured in the violence, two victims, Raza Yousuf Khan, 17, and Imran Ansari, 40, are battling for life at a govt-run hospital in the city. Both were caught in the crossfire and are currently on ventilator support.
Among alarming details emerging from riot-hit areas was the attack on two women cops, one of whom was pinned down in a narrow lane at Bhaldarpura by stone-pelters and her uniform torn. She was groped, but managed to stave off an assault. Another woman officer, ACP Anita More, was cornered in a bylane, attacked with stones.
Zonal DCP Niketan Kadam, a 2019-batch IPS officer, was attacked with an axe by a 15-year-old boy at Hansapuri, eyewitness told TOI. The assailant aimed for Kadam’s neck, but the officer managed to block the blow with his hand, sustaining serious injuries.
Kadam underwent emergency surgery at New Era Hospital late in the evening. Around 34 cops, including 4 DCPs, sustained injuries. “A special cyber police team has been deployed to monitor and take action against those spreading rumours on social media,” said CP Singal, adding all routes leading to Mahal have been sealed, and security tightened across the city.
At least 100 schools and colleges in curfew-impacted areas remained shut and school bus fleet operators stayed off roads. District education officer Rohini Kumbhar told TOI that schools, within and outside the curfew zone, are empowered to declare holidays based on their assessment of local situation.
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With CBSE Class 12 economics exam scheduled for Wednesday, district collector Dr Vipin Itankar said there are no travel curbs on examinees. Riots resulted in extensive damage, with more than 50 vehicles, including two JCBs torched and vandalised.
Sources stated Asst Commandant of Central reserve police force (CRPF) Vikas Kumar Jha came under heavy stone pelting while driving through Bhagwagar Chowk. His official Scorpio jeep was heavily damaged.
Two homeguards were nearly lynched while trying to keep apart two groups of stone pelters. Two police vehicles were torched near Geetanjali chowk apart from two cranes for the ongoing construction works on the roads with petrol bombs. One rioter was also mercilessly thrashed by his opposite group but was saved by a whisker when the cops rescued and rushed him to hospital.
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More than 650 rioters were booked in a single FIR at Ganeshpeth police station with 57 sections under BNS. Police have also named 51 activists of a minority democratic party in the offence, said a police source.
As the situation remains volatile, police continue to conduct patrols and surveillance operations. Fixed security points have been set up at sensitive locations, while armed personnel monitor the streets to prevent further escalation.
City police on Tuesday evening also held route marches in sensitive areas in Central Nagpur. Authorities have urged citizens to remain indoors and avoid spreading unverified information online.
An offence was also lodged at Tehsil police station against unidentified rioters for damaging and torching around 12 identified vehicles worth more than Rs five lakhs at Hansapuri during the riot.
Almost 50 more vehicles, hand carts, e-rickshaws and other shops, clinics and houses were damaged in the same area by rioters entering from Kasabpura and Ganjikhet chowk.
