Moradabad District Magistrate, and dozens of BJP activists and Government officials were injured after the administration and leaders of the saffron brigade fought a pitched battle over holding of a mahapanchayat against removal of loudspeakers from a Kanth temple on Friday.
The atmosphere, which is already tense, has been further charged following the call of mahapanchayat by BJP leaders clashing with Friday prayers at mosques. IG (law and Order) Amrendra Sengar, who claimed that the situation was well handled by the local administration, told mediapersons that extra force has been provided to the district and senior officers were closely monitoring the situation to avert any untoward incident.
Reports said that tension started as soon as an irate mob, led by BJP activists and senior leaders, including MPs and MlAs, clashed with the police over holding of mahapanchayat despite a ban imposed by the local administration on Friday morning. Trouble erupted when a police team started detaining MPs, MlAs and other senior leaders to prevent them from holding a mahapanchyat.
Besides clashing with police at various places, including Amroha, Sambhal, and other adjoining districts, a strong contingent of members of BJP tried to bring rail traffic to a complete halt to protest the detention of their leaders in the afternoon. The agitated mob pelted stones and attacked a police party after which the cops retaliated and fired blanks in the air to disperse the crowd.
Reports said that District Magistrate of Moradabad Chandrakant, along with circle officer Archana and inspector Sudhir Kumar Tomar, suffered serious injuries. The DM was hit by a stone thrown by the mob, sources said. He was referred to New Delhi for treatment. Several other people and policemen were also injured in the clash.
Reports also said that several long distance trains including Upasana Express from Haridwar to Kolkata was detained. Some miscreants also damaged the wire of electric line of one of the tracks creating hurdle in plying of trains in the area. later, a large contingent of police forces was rushed to Kanth to control the situation.
All the markets in Kanth were closed down while the highways were blocked. Sources said that over 400 of BJP activists including 4 MPs, Satyapal Saini, Nepal Singh, Sarvesh, Kunwar Singh Tanwar, and a legislator Sangeet Som, were detained but were later released in the evening.
The dispute between the two communities started on June 26 last, when hundreds of members of Dalit community blocked Haridwar highway protesting against removal of loudspeakers from their temple by the administration. Demanding reinstallation of the loudspeakers at its place, they fought pitch battle with the administration before being chased away. Interestingly, on Thursday evening, local administration had issued a letter claiming that the two groups had already reached to a compromise.