Authorities in Maharashtra’s Amravati city on Saturday imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after stone-pelting incidents during protests against the recent communal violence in Tripura, ANI reported, citing the district’s guardian minister Yashomati Thakur.
Under the provision, district authorities imposed a curfew in the city for four days, according to PTI. People will not be allowed to come out of their homes unless there is a medical emergency and gatherings of more than five persons have been banned.
Internet services will remain suspended in the city for three days to stop the spread of rumours, Commissioner of Police Arti Singh said.
Over eight thousand people had gathered outside the collector’s office in the city in eastern Maharashtra on Friday. They submitted a memorandum demanding that atrocities on minorities in Tripura be stopped, PTI reported, citing unidentified officials.
Subsequently, some of them allegedly engaged in stone-pelting at three places.
On Saturday morning, the Bharatiya Janata Party called for a shutdown in the city to protest against Friday’s stone-pelting incidents. During the protest called by the BJP, a mob allegedly pelted stones and damaged shops at Rajkamal Chowk and several places in Amravati.
On Friday, violence also erupted in the cities of Malegaon and Nanded during protests against the situation in Tripura, The Times of India reported.
At the Malegaon city in the Nashik district, over a dozen people, including 10 police personnel, sustained injuries. At Nanded, eight police personnel were injured. These included an additional superintendent of police, an inspector and six constables.
The police have registered at least 20 first information reports in connection with the violence, PTI reported. Out of these, 11 have been registered in Amravati, three each have been registered in Malegaon and Nanded, two have been registered in Washin and one in Yavatmal.
State Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said that protests against the situation in Tripura took a violent turn in some places, but added that it was now under control. He appealed to all Hindus and Muslims to maintain peace, ANI reported.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that the violence in Maharashtra was aimed at destabilising the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, according to PTI.
“Raising the bogey of violence, they [Opposition] will meet the state governor and write letters to the Union home ministry claiming that the [law and order] situation in Maharashtra is deteriorating,” Raut said. “This will happen in future too. But the state government is firm in the saddle.”
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik also condemned the violence and assured that action will be taken against the culprits, according to ANI. “Those who have organised these protests had a responsibility to make sure that protests shall be held peacefully,” he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis told ANI that violence broke out in Maharashtra in connection with “incidents that never took place” in Tripura. He alleged that attempts were made to burn shops belonging to Hindus.
“If state ministers themselves are giving inflammatory statements, then it is even more serious,” Fadnavis said, urging to people to maintain peace.
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