In Rampur, trivial bike accident leads to communal flare-up; 3 killed, 12 injured
With Western Uttar Pradesh already in the grip of communal frenzy, a petty dispute in Rampur triggered a major clash between members of two communities. Three persons were killed, while a dozen others were injured in indiscriminate firing and explosion of crude bombs. local police managed to control the situation, but the atmosphere is still tense. Heavy police force has been deployed in the area so that the festivity of Eid is not disturbed on Tuesday.
Reports said that trouble started when one Guddu, hailing from Mehndipur area of Azeemnagar in Rampur, was accidently hit by the bike of Saddam, a resident of the same area. This led to a heated argument between the two. But in communally surcharged atmosphere, this was enough to flare up emotions.
Soon armed members of both the communities converged and attacked each other with country-made firearms and crude bombs. By the time local police could reach the spot along with Rampur Superintendent of Police Sadhna Gupta, three persons had succumbed to bullet injuries and a dozen sustained injuries. Condition of four injured are critical. The deceased were identified as Munna, Danish and Jalees. So far no arrest has been made in the incident.
Meanwhile, claiming that the Akhilesh Government has a tendency to go on a denial mode whenever the State is rocked by communal violence, the BJP on Monday asked why administration ignores small skirmishes that ensue into big incidents.
“Saharanpur is on the boil because of the laxity of the State Government and the district administration. Instead of nipping the issue in the bud, the district administration sat idle leading to bloodbath,” BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said in a statement issued here on Monday.
He said that instead of admitting this as a communal violence, the Government has called it a caste war to divert the attention. “Precious lives have been lost in the pogrom. Ditto happened in Muzaffarnagar. There too the Government termed the violence as caste war. Instead of taking action, the State Government is busy giving nomenclature to these incidents. This shows how serious the Samajwadi Party Government is in protecting the lives of common man on streets,” Pathak said.
The BJP spokesman said that the Akhilesh Government is involved in the appeasement of Muslims. The Kanth incident is reflection of Government’s political plans. It has been proved through an RTI that a loudspeaker was installed in the said temple since long and the government, just to appease a section of society, acted against the members of the majority community, he said.
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan will hold a high-level law & order and development review meeting in lucknow on August 1 on the directives of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
According to official sources here on Monday, all the divisional commissioners, IGs, DIGs, District Magistrates and SPs have been asked to attend the meeting.