Photo Credit: AFP
Curfew was imposed at four places in Bokaro Steel City after a group of youths clashed with a Ram Navami procession.
Ram Navami, which drew a crowd of over a lakh to Ranchi's Main Road, was celebrated peacefully today in the capital, but reports of violence sparked by stone-pelting came in from Bokaro and Hazaribagh in the evening, dampening the festive spirit that had spread cheer across Jharkhand in the last few days. In the steel city of Bokaro, curfew was clamped at 8.45 pm on Friday, April 15, at four places after police resorted to lathicharge and fired teargas shells to control an angry mob of youths who had allegedly pelted stones on a procession led by Bokaro MLA Viranchi Narain around 6 pm. More than two dozen people were hurt, including Bokaro deputy commissioner R.M. Ray, 10 policemen and three journalists, one of them a photographer with The Telegraph, that newspaper reported.
Barely half an hour later in Hazaribagh, at least six persons were injured in stone pelting when a Ram Navami procession passed through Pandu village, around 60km from the district headquarters. Later, an earthmover was set on fire. Newspapers reported that Hazaribagh SP Akhilesh Kumar Jha reached the village promptly with additional forces. The situation, he said, was now under control. The police were talking to elderly members of all communities to ensure that there was no further flare-up.
Police sources told newspapers that trouble had erupted between two communities in Pandu village during the procession when some people objected to cars being parked along the route. “It was a minor issue which led to an argument and stone pelting. Security forces at the spot managed to control the situation. But some elements targeted houses deep inside the village. As per our information, three houses were set on fire, while a fourth was partially burnt,” said Jharkhand police spokesperson and ADGP (Operations) S N Pradhan.
Curfew was imposed in Bokaro steel city area, Maraphari, Balidih and Sector XII police station areas.