Bengaluru, Sep 12 (IANS): The Karnataka Police have arrested 52 persons till Thursday morning in connection with the violence that erupted following the stone pelting incident on Hindu devotees during the Ganapati idol procession near a dargah in Nagamangala town of Mandya district, sources said.

The arrested included people from both Hindu and Muslim communities.

BJP MLC C.T. Ravi slammed the Congress government for arresting the Hindu devotees, who are office-bearers of the organising committee, rather than arresting the Muslim rioters who intentionally took to violence and hurled petrol bombs. "The action in this regard by the police is unpardonable. Immediately high-level committee should probe the matter and strict action should be initiated,” he demanded.

"More than 25 shops were gutted by hurling petrol bombs. This shows that it is a premeditated act and the previous year also there was an attempt to attack the Ganesh procession. This year, they came with full preparation and though information was available, no action was taken by the police department. It is a failure by the police department. Religious fundamental forces think that their government is ruling the state and they can indulge in any kind of activities," Ravi charged.

The punishment should be given to those who pelted stones on the Ganesh Visarjan procession, who insulted Lord Ganesha, who hurled petrol bombs, and those who torched and gutted more than 25 shops. Instead, those who were at the forefront of organising the procession and condemned the inaction of the police were arrested and subjected to injustice. It is a crime. I urge the government to stop encouraging fundamental forces and deal with them effectively," Ravi demanded.

"If we look at other incidents such as the burning down of an electric bike showroom in Kalaburagi city, and assault on doctors in Chikkamagaluru, the accused belonged to one religion. I suspect that a think tank is behind all this and orchestrating the violence with a specific objective," he stated.

Sources said that the Ganesh idol was installed at Badarikoppal locality. When the idol was brought into an immersion procession near the Dargah on Mysuru Road in Nagamangala town, a group hailing from another religion started pelting stones at the procession all of a sudden.

The group had also asked the Hindu devotees to stop playing drums and other instruments in front of the Dargah. This led to an altercation between the two groups and they started pushing each other. Within no time they started clashing, said the sources.

The Hindu devotees had gone in front of the police station with the Ganesh idol and started staging a protest condemning violence against them. They also demanded the arrest of the miscreants who indulged in stone pelting and prevented the procession from moving on.

The Hindu youths taking part in the procession have told police that the mob indulged in stone pelting, wielding talwars at devotees and threatening them with life. They also threatened that if they came near the Dargah with the procession no one would be spared their lives, said the sources.

A large number of youths from both communities gathered and indulged in attacking each other. The police resorted to the lathi charge to disperse the crowds of two sides. However, the mob started pelting stones at the police and also hurled slippers at them. More than two police constables were injured in the incident, police said.

However, police managed to snatch talwars from the youths. One of the groups yet again indulged in violence by throwing stones at the shops and hurling petrol bombs. The mob also torched the vehicles. The mob had also torched a scrap godown. The fire force and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. One of the shops located next to Nagamangala police station was also torched in the incident.

While this was happening, one group hiding in the buildings started pelting stones targeting police. A group carrying iron rods also attacked the vehicles. The police had to get reinforcements and went in all directions to find the groups indulging in stone pelting and then dispersed them by lathi charge, said the officials.

BJP Karnataka taking to X, stated, “Hello Mr. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is Mandya district situated in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh? The incident of violence reported from Nagamangala is a direct consequence of appeasement politics carried out by the Congress government in Karnataka.”

“From where do the rioters derive their strength to stop the procession passing in front of Dargah? If police themselves have become victims of stone pelting, Mr. Home Minister G. Parameshwara, you have rendered the police force helpless,” the BJP stated.