The situation in the riot-hit Aurangabad returned to normal on Sunday, even as the Maharashtra Government ordered a high-level inquiry into the disturbances in which two persons were killed and 50 others injured.
The police arrested 19 more persons taking the total number of arrests made in connection with the riots that broke out in various parts of the historic city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
In an effort to ensure against the recurrence of any untoward incident, the authorities continued to enforce the orders under section 144 of the CrPC that prohibits assembly of four or more persons, in the affected area of the city.
Talking to media persons, Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said: “We have asked the revenue authorities to assess the damage caused due to rioting and arson. So far, 35 persons have been arrested in connection with the riots”.
“As directed by chief minister Devendra Faednavis, a high-level inquiry has been ordered into the riots. We are confident that truth will out come from the inquiry ordered by the state government.... Since some miscreants used the social media to instigate and spread riots, we have asked the State Cyber into the messages that were circulated ahead of and during the riots,” Patil said.
Preliminary estimates have suggested that properties worth more than Rs 2 crore were destroyed during the riots.
Queried if the riots were pre-meditated and if there was an intelligence failure, the minister evaded a direct reply but said: “We cannot ignore the fact that miscreants threw Mirchi powder at people and flung bottles filled with petrol (to set vehicles and places on fire) Significantly, the rioting took place simultaneously at three to four localities. The police are examining CCTV footage of riots.
We will initiate stern action against persons found guilty irrespective of the community that belong to”.
Meanwhile, Special Inspector General of Police (Aurangabad range) Milind Bharambe, who is officiating as Aurangabad Police Commissioner, said: “The situation has returned to normal now. Seven companies of State Reserve Police Force and one company of Riot Control Police have been deployed in the sensitive areas of the city”.
Bharambe said that three FIRs had been registered in connection with incidents of riots and arson that took place between different parts of Aurangabad between 10 pm on Friday and 4 am on Saturday.
While a 17-year-old boy succumbed to plastic bullet wounds that he suffered during the firing resorted to by the police during the riots, another elderly person was killed in a gas cylinder explosion that took place in a shop which was set on fire by rioters. An estimated 50 persons, including 10 policemen, were injured in the disturbances.
Trouble had begun at around 10 pm on Friday when two groups clashed at Motikaranja locality over an illegal water tap connection. After two groups clashed, incidents of arson were reported from Gandhinagar and Motikaranja. Before, information about the two incidents went viral on the social media.
What followed were a series of rioting incidents in different parts of Aurangabad city including Shahganj, lota Karanja, Gandhi statue area, Nawabpura Nizamuddin chowk, Motikaranja, Cholipura and Manjurapura. Incidents of stone pelting and arson continued till 4 am.
The riots intensified after messages regarding the first incident of clashes went viral on social media. A large number of shops and vehicles were set on fire.