Jharkhand: ‘Shourya diwas’ procession leads to stone-pelting in Dhanbad, several detained

When additional re-inforcements arrived, the stone-pelters began targeting the police. (Source: Google map)

Some persons were injured and around half-a-dozen vehicles, including two police vehicles, were damaged in stone-pelting between two communities when a Shourya Diwas procession, taken out by Bajrang Dal on Wednesday, was objected to by another community under Jharia police station area of Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district.

Police force remained deployed on the ground to keep the situation under control. The police Thursday said they have detained some people in connection with the case. However, no arrests have been made so far.

According to the police, a procession took off from Lodna Mor area of Jharia town around 11 am and reached Katras Mor around 1.45 pm. From there, the police restricted the march of the procession through Upar Kuli area. Within 15 minutes, some processionists riding motorcycle ventured into the prevented route. The other group began objecting to their presence. This led to an argument and, by 2.30 pm, they started pelting stone. Some vehicles parked along were damaged, said a police officer.

When additional re-inforcements arrived, the stone-pelters began targeting the police. However, the police resorted to mild use of force to disperse the crowd. No policemen sustained injuries, but the windscreen of a PCR van and another police vehicle were damaged. The situation was brought under control in about an hours time, he said.

SP (City) Dhanbad, Piyush Pandey, said: “We are in the process of identifying the culprits. Some people have been detained. Forces have been deployed to ensure that nobody disturbs the peace. As far as injury to common people is concerned, we have not come across anybody who has been admitted to hospital. Some people may have sustained minor injuries.

Pandey added that the argument between the two groups over the route of procession led to the violence. He said that the situation has been peaceful since last evening.