Curfew remained imposed in many areas of Gawalior on Wednesday following violence in Dalit protest on Monday. The curfew was imposed in the wake of the unprecedented violence in the Gwalior Chambal Division on April 3 during the Bharat Bandh called against the alleged dilution of the SC /ST Act by the Supreme Court of India.
According to Rahul Jain, the District Collector the situation is slowly getting back to normal, so a four hour relaxation in curfew has been permitted so that the citizens can buy essential things.
Talking to the media persons, the collector said that there was a shortage of police personnel on March 3 which was main reason for the situation getting out of control. He also said that the members of the Peace Committee who had initiated many peace measures too were absent on the fateful day.
Talking on the issue, Health Minister Rustom Singh said that additional forces had been pressed into service before the situation could worsen and he lauded the services of the police personnel.
Earlier, Minster of Rural and Urban Development and Housing Maya Singh had said that the Collector and the SP had delayed taking any firm steps, and this was the main reason for the situation worsening to such an extent. Reacting to this Anshuman Yadav, Gwalior IG said that the department had rushed sufficient forces to the riot stricken areas to help restore peace there. He declined to make any further comments on the Minister’s remarks.
Gwalior SP Ashish said that he is unaware of the minister’s remarks. He added that the police department is in constant touch with all the ministers and is apprising them of the situation.
It is learnt from reliable sources that the Police Headquarters had alerted all the collectors and police officials on the March 31 about the bandh and had warned that the situation could become serious. looking at what happened on the 3rd of April it is clear that the District Administration and the Police Department did not take the cautions too seriously.