Gangolli unrest: Three in custody, Sorake assures speedy action
Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (RJP)
Updated
Kundapur, Nov 29: Three persons have been taken into police custody so far in the Gangolli unrest which has been prevailing since Thursday November 27.
The losses suffered due to the fire at Jamiya complex have been estimated at around Rs 1 crore. It is now strongly believed that the fire was an act by miscreants. As per recent information, theory of short circuit has been presently ruled out.
District incharge minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, former minister Oscar Fernandes, and Byndoor MLA K Gopala Poojary visited the place. People requested them to take stern action against the miscreants and pay compensation to the people who have suffered losses in the fire.
Vinay Kumar Sorake has promised prompt and speedy action against the persons responsible for the fire. Sorake also said he would talk to the home minister with regard to the compensation issue.
Forensic team has arrived in town to help in the investigations.
Earlier Report
Kundapur: Tension grips Gangolli after building owned by mosque catches fire
Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Nov 29: In an incident which occurred a day after two groups of youngsters from different communities fought, ending with the arrest of one person, a one-storied building complex owned by the local mosque was gutted in a fire tragedy.
The building, Jamiya Complex, was completely gutted in the fire which broke out at around 1 am on Saturday November 29. The building is located within 100 metres of Gangolli police outpost. Reasons for the fire, and whether miscreants set the building on fire, are not known.
It is generally thought that electric short circuit would not have caused the accident. All the shop owners have cultivated the habit of making it doubly sure that main switches are put off before closing the shops for the day. They say they had done this meticulously on Friday night too. It is said that no highly combustible materials were stored in any of these shops. Therefore, many rule out accidental fire theory.
All the ten shops in the complex including four hardware shops, a textile shop, a store dealing in cosmetics, a tailoring shop, furniture shop, and shop dealing with baby needs were gutted. The loss in this incident runs into crores of rupees, as per a guess.
Some people who saw that the building was enveloped in fire, conveyed information to the police. The police immediately alerted fire brigade. Four fire engines fought to bring the fire under control, but could not stop the building from being consumed by fire.
Four circle inspectors, three DARs, one commando, two KSRP, 10 PSIs and police personnel have been deployed.
The incident has given rise to tensions in this small town, which had witnessed an incident of friction between two groups from different communities at around 10 pm on Thursday. Gangolli has always been identified as a communally sensitive region, and the above incident occurring within a day of the earlier faceoff, has fuelled rumours of a possible act of reprisal.
Hanif, who had got admitted into a hospital after the clashes on Thursday night, was arrested by the police when he was coming out after being discharged by the hospital on Friday. He was produced in the court, upon which he was remanded to judicial custody till December 12.
Police circle inspectors, P M Diwakar, and Sudarsha, had visited the village immediately after Thursday's incident, and beefed up security measures. Western range inspector general of police, Amrit Paul, visited Gangolli on Friday and warned that those who try to foment trouble will be severely dealt with. Even after these developments, the fire accident took place, that too within a short distance from the police outpost. The fact that the building consumed by flames belonged to a mosque, it happened in communally sensitive village, Gangolli, within a day of the unsavoury incident of Thursday night, have given rise to several theories. One hopes that police investigation will be able to throw light on the exact reason for this fire tragedy.