New Delhi, Jan 26 (TOI): The Gurugram Police said today it wanted to make absolutely clear that no Muslim youth were involved in stoning a school bus full of children on Wednesday.
Social media has been awash with rumour that the anti-'Padmaavat' hooligans who stoned the bus were young Muslim men.
"This is to clarify that no Muslim boys have been detained in relation to the recent acts of vandalism on a Haryana Roadways bus and a school bus in Gurugram," said Gurugram Police today, according to ANI news agency.
On Wednesday, a rampaging anti-'Padmaavat' mob in Haryana's Bhondsi attacked school buses taking children home to Gurugram. As the group of 50-odd hooligans hurled bricks, stones and other projectiles on the bus, as many as 30 terrified children huddled under the seats to shield themselves from the missives and from glass shards flying at them as more and more windows shattered.
A day later, Gurugram police took 23 people into custody+ for the stone-pelting. They were charged with rioting and attempt to murder. Those apprehended include eight minor boys, some of whom were seen wearing what appeared to be school uniforms during the violence.
The others, all residents of Rajput-dominated Bhondsi, were sent to judicial custody and booked for rioting, attempt to murder and various other sections of the IPC. Nine more people were detained for roles in other incidents of violence in the city on Wednesday. Among them were Nitin Sharma and Umesh Kumar, members of a group calling itself 'Royal Youth Swaraj' who went to a mall on MG Road and threatened officials against screening the film.