Section 144 imposed in MP’s Neemuch city after clashes over Hanuman idol 

BHOPAL:  Police have clamped Section 144 of the CrPC in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch and lodged four cases in connection with the clashes between two communities on Monday night after a Hanuman idol was allegedly installed near a dargah.

Tension had spread after people from the minority community objected to placing of the idol on Monday.  The plot where the Hanuman idol was placed is a government land which earlier housed tehsil office, hospital and library.  

Rioting and arson soon descended in the locality, forcing the police to fire tear gas shells for dispersing the two sides. While a teenager identified as Mohd Younis was injured, some police personnel sustained minor injuries. The chain of events prompted the administration to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in entire Neemuch City police station area. 

This is the second communal clash in Madhya Pradesh in a little over a month after the Khargone riots in April. According to Neemuch police superintendent Suraj Verma, four cases of rioting have so far been lodged in connection with the violence and nine persons (identified through video footage to be involved in the violence) were rounded up.

“Since decades, a dargah has existed on the same land. When the Hanuman idol was placed in the same land on Monday, the other group objected to it. After being alerted about the tense situation, police rushed to the spot and asked both the groups to come to the district police control to resolve the issue amicably. While the people were dispersing from the spot, some elements from both sides pelted stones.

The stone-pelters damaged three-four motorbikes and set ablaze one of the two-wheelers...,” Verma told TNIE. “We’re identifying other culprits by going through the video footage (collected from the area).” 
As a precautionary measure, heavy police force has been deployed in large numbers in the affected area of Neemuch town and prohibitory orders have been imposed under Section 144 of the CrPC in entire Neemuch City police station area till July 16 on the order of additional district collector Neha Meena.