The Uttarakhand Police on Monday filed a first information report against 300 unidentified persons after shops run by Muslims in Chamoli district were vandalised a day earlier, The Indian Express reported.
On Sunday, at least eleven shops run by Muslims were vandalised in response to allegations that a member of the community, working in Chamoli town as a barber, had molested a 14-year-old girl.
The 25-year-old man was accused of making an obscene gesture towards the girl on August 22. The matter came to light on Saturday when the minor’s father filed a police complaint.
On Sunday morning, hundreds of Chamoli residents protested in the district’s Nandanagar area demanding the arrest of the accused man. Some of the protestors allegedly shouted provocative slogans and damaged shops run by Muslims, including the accused man’s barbershop.
A first information report of the incident was filed on Monday on a complaint by the officer in charge of the Nandanagar Ghat police station. Eleven shops were vandalised, the report said, adding that an under-construction Namaz Sthal, or an area dedicated to offering prayers, was also damaged by the mob.
The mob targeted members of a particular community, according to the first information report.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramod Shah told PTI that the accused man was arrested on Sunday night from Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnore district, which borders Uttarakhand.
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