On October 25, a clash erupted in Begusarai district of Bihar while a procession for immersion of Goddess Durga was being taken out. As per media reports, the clash had reportedly broken out between two groups and had resulted in the vandalisation and looting of Muslim-owned shops. As per a report of the Hindustan Times, the clash had left three persons injured.
As provided by the police, two Durga idol processions were going in Ballia market for immersion when an individual, identified as Amit Rastogi, allegedly removed the flag belonging to one of the processions, as per a report of the Observer Post. The said act had led to confusion and chaos amongst the people who were a part of the religious processions. As the temperament started flaring, a gunshot was fired at those participating in the idol immersion, and the flag associated with the procession was tampered with.
The angry members of the religious procession had then resorted to vandalising the local Muslim owned shops.
Begusarai Superintendent of Police Yogendra Kumar told the Observer Post that the incident reached such a level that it necessitated police intervention, which included a lathi charge. As per the HT report, additional police force had rushed to the spot of the clash to bring the situation under control. Furthermore, six people have been detained by the police and are being questioned.
A post of Hate Detectors on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) had posted videos from the incident. In one video, a group of people can be seen standing on a tempo. One young boy can be seen pulling down a flag and throwing it down. The second video shows individuals vandalising properties and roaming around with sticks and swords in their hands. The third video shows the mob vandalising shops of roadside fruit and vegetable sellers.
The video can be viewed here:
In #Bihar‘s #Begusarai, Muslim shops vandalised & looted during Durga procession!
A clash broke out between two Durga immersion processions in #Ballia market of Begusarai!
Police said that two Durga idol processions were going in Ballia market for immersion!
During this… pic.twitter.com/0u8UwoXVox
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) October 28, 2023
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