Debunking false news, and conspiracy theories being fanned by right wing influencers, especially online, Telangana State police has said it was the right-wing organisation Hindu Vahini that is responsible for triggering communal riots in Bhainsa town on March 7. The riots, said the police, were started by two men identified as Thota Mahesh and Dattu Patel, according to the cops.
Santosh is Hindu Vahini’s district president and Thota Vijay is the sitting counsellor of Ward No 8 of Bhainsa town and is the ex-president of Hindu Vahini.
Press meet on Communal Incident at Bhainsa by Inspector General of Police, North Zone.Sri.Y. Nagi Reddy, IPS.https://t.co/lqB9b5CeK3@sp_nirmal pic.twitter.com/NGNEF2TOZX
— Telangana State Police (@TelanganaCOPs) March 16, 2021
Y Nagi Reddy, inspector general of police (IGP) (north zone) shared the details at a press conference on Tuesday. According to IGP Reddy, the accused Mahesh and Dattu were riding their bike, and had hit a youth named Rizwan from behind while he was walking with two of his friends Sameer and Minaj. This minor accident took place in Zulfiquar Gully, near the Zulfiquar mosque.
However, this minor incident was turned communal and flared-up by the members of the Hindu Vahini, including its district president Santosh and Thota Vijay (sitting counsellor of Ward No 8 of Bhainsa town and an ex-Hindu Vahini president), stated the IGP. Soon there was stone pelting and arson in Bhainsa, as both sides called-on more and more people to fight. Police have registered 26 cases, naming 38 accused, including four children. According to police, the accused hailing both communities have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Nine civilians and three police officers were injured in the riots and four houses, 13 shops, four autos, six four-wheelers and five two-wheelers were set ablaze by the miscreants, stated the news reports. The police formed special investigation teams which then analyzed the CDRs and CCTV footage. According to the news report, the accused were identified based on footage from CCTV cameras installed in Bhainsa.
The police added that most of those arrested are known members of the Hindu Vahini organization. IGP Nagi Reddy has said that the Telangana police’s impartial investigation is based on “technical evidence”, adding that there was “no truth behind allegations of police’s biased attitude.”
The state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit, and right wing influencers have been alleging that the police was being biased and was “only arresting Hindu youth, and targeting them”. The right-wing eco system has also been fanning multiple conspiracy theories blaming the minority community and the BJP has accused the police of biased investigation. On March 15, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay, wrote to Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, alleging that “infiltrators” from Maharashtra, especially Muslims, were entering Telangana or Bhainsa and causing trouble, reported Siasat Daily.
The BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar also directed MLAs from his party to raise the issue of the Bhainsa communal riots, in the Assembly Budget session stated news reports. Dubbaka MLA M Raghunandhan Rao told the media that “if the government had acted when communal tensions occurred last Sankranthi, the latest riots wouldn’t have happened.”
Related:
Withdraw comments against Quran, apologise: NCM