Daijiworld Media Network - Belagavi (SP)
Belagavi, Nov 24: Relating to clashes which erupted on the night of Sunday November 22 at Shahapur area here, the police have arrested 22 people including the son of a city corporator. It is gathered that most of the arrested persons are minors.
It is said that a small fight which cropped up between two youngsters a month back took the form of communal clashes. After some people voiced opposition to a Killa that had been built in the town on Sunday, incidents of .
violence took ugly turn. The locals say that minor incidents had been occurring in the city since a month.
At around 11.30 pm on Sunday, Diwali festival had been organized at Achar Galli in Shahapur by a community, duly building a fort of Shivaji there. It is said that people belonging to another community threw stones, bricks bottles etc at the spot where the function was in progress, seriously injuring wo persons. When some persons were coming back after visiting Shahapur police station to lodge complaint about the incident, stones were thrown at them, it is said. Angered at this development, people of the other community rushed towards the miscreants and raised a hue. Then the miscreants are said to have thrown stones at a prayer centre. After both the groups rained stones on reach other, the situation turned tense. A team of policemen led by Shahapur station house officer, D C Lakkannavar, rushed to the spot and controlled the situation.
The entire area was full of stones, bottles, and bricks used by the two crowds. Over ten vehicles including auto rickshaws, cars, and two-wheelers, were damaged. Police security was provided to the area and a nearby prayer centre thereafter. There are reports of an attempt being made at Uchagaon near here, to destroy a prayer centre on Monday morning. But no case was registered about this incident.
City police commissioner, S Ravi, said that security arrangements in the city will remain in place for sometime. He asked the general public to extend hand of cooperation to the police in stopping recurrence of unsavoury incidents.