Internet services have been suspended in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara after a 22-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death in the city’s Kotwali Police Station area on Tuesday night, ANI reported.
“Internet services in Bhilwara to remain suspended till 6 am on Thursday, May 12,” said Bhilwara District Collector Ashish Modi.
According to NDTV, the Hindu man was allegedly stabbed by a Muslim when he had gone to resolve a dispute involving his younger brother.
The deceased man was identified as Adarsh Tapdia, a resident of Shastri Nagar in Bhilwara, PTI reported. Hindutva groups have called for a shutdown in the area as a protest against the death of Tapdia.
The police have registered a first information report in connection with the death. Three accused persons have been arrested, Modi said.
“Some youth entered into a brawl last night,” he said, ANI reported. “One of them had a knife. One person has died and three accused are arrested.”
Police forces were deployed in the area amid tensions after the incident, Modi said. “The administration is talking to community leaders to keep a dialogue open and foster an understanding so that this incident does not acquire communal overtones,” he added, NDTV reported.
Further investigation is underway.
The development came days after two unidentified masked men attacked two persons in Bhilwara’s Sanganer area. In the incident which took place on May 4, the accused men also set a bike on fire.
To maintain law and order in the area following the incident, Ajmer Divisional Commissioner Hanuman Sahay Meena ordered suspending mobile internet services from 4 am on May 5 till 4 am on May 6.
The Rajasthan Police is on alert after communal trouble in Jodhpur and Karauli in the past few weeks.
On May 2, at least five police officials were injured as members of the Hindu and Muslim communities threw stones at each other over the hoisting of a religious flag in the Jalori Gate area in Jodhpur. A mob also took down loudspeakers that had been installed in the area for Eid prayers.
Tensions erupted once again after Eid prayers on May 3 after some men hurled stones near the Jalori Gate, the same site where the clashes took place a day before.
In another incident in Karauli city, communal clashes broke out in a Muslim-dominated area on April 2 after a motorcycle rally passed through it allegedly playing communally-charged songs to celebrate the Hindu New Year.
In response, Muslims had allegedly thrown stones at the rally. The police had said that some people vandalised shops and vehicles in response. Thirty-five persons were injured in the violence.
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