After the recent disturbance in West Bengal following a controversial post on the social media, an objectionable post on the social media allegedly by a minor boy caused public anger in the town of Satpuli in Pauri district here on Sunday. A boy belonging to a particular community had shared on the social media, an objectionable depiction of the shrine at a major pilgrimage centre in the state. Irked by such objectionable depiction, a mob also comprising locals, ransacked two fruit shops run by the boy’s father in Satpuli, also setting fire to some of the items kept there.
All the shops of the Satpuli Nagar Panchayat remained closed against the objectionable action on Sunday. A group of angry members of the public also gheraoed the Satpuli police station demanding action against the culprit. The situation in Satpuli was tense during the day with public emotions flaring up. On getting the information of the incident, the Pauri district magistrate Sushil Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police Jagat Ram Joshi reached the incident place and are also monitoring the situation. The police force from Kotdwar and Pauri including the special operation group (SOG) team has been deployed in Satpuli to maintain peace and harmony among the people. The Pauri district magistrate informed this correspondent that the situation in Satpuli was under control with no tension prevailing. He further informed that a first information report had been lodged against the accused while the annoyed public was also asked to maintain peace and order. The district administration and police will take necessary action against the person involved in an action which hurt the sentiments of the public, he added. Meanwhile, the Pauri SSP Jagat Ram Joshi, who was in Neelkanth Mahadev area for preparations of the Kawad Mela also reached Satpuli. When asked about the incident, Joshi said that the son of one Wasim Khan who has two fruit shops in Satpuli had shared objectionable material on the social media where it gone viral. On seeing this post, the members of the public got annoyed and damaged the two fruit shops.
The mob burnt a few cartons and some other items before the fire was extinguished by members of both the communities. It is learnt that the Satpuli police station house officer was deputed to the Neelkanth Mahadev area for the Kanwad Mela, due to which only one sub inspector and a few police personnel were present in the Satpuli station when the disturbance was reported on Sunday. After getting the information of this incident, the district magistrate and SSP deployed the police force from Kotdwar and Pauri to prevent any untoward incident in Satpuli.