Residence of police officer attacked, public property set aflame
Photo Credit: The Hindu
Communal violence erupted in Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and the main culprit is none less than the BJP MP, Raghav Lakhanpal.
The district’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Love Kumar has ordered the filing of an FIR against Lakhanpal and over 500 others for violence, vandalism and attack on the house of the SSP and the district magistrate’s office.
The trigger for the violence was the insistence of Lakhanpal and other local BJP leaders to take their “Ambedkar Shobha Yatra” through a communally sensitive area for which the police had refused permission.
No procession has been permitted for the last seven years through Sadak Dudhli, a village with a mixed Muslim and Dalit population on the skirts of Saharanpur city.
Emboldened with Yogi Adityanath’s occupation of the chief minister’s chair in the state, rightwing Hindu groups along with local BJP leaders had announced that this year they will take the procession through the village. And they went ahead with their plan despite denial of police permission.
When the police blocked the yatra’s procession through the Muslim area of the village, BJP supporters went on a rampage and attacked the SSP’s residence. The violent mob also allegedly smashed the CCTV cameras and furniture and set public property on fire. In an attempt to bring the situation under control, heavy police bandobust has been put in place throughout Saharanpur city.
“We will not allow Saharanpur to turn into Kashmir,” the BJP MP has reportedly stated.