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Uneasy calm
in curfew bound MP’s Khategaon township; communal strife casualty only one
Bhopal, March 02 (Pervez Bari): Uneasy calm prevails in curfew bound Madhya
Pradesh’s Khategaon township in Dewas district, about 70 km from Bhopal, which
witnessed communal strife on Monday.
No untoward incident occurred on Tuesday when curfew was relaxed for half an
hour from 5.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the residents to buy essential commodities.
The death toll in Monday’s clash is only of one Arjun while three other
persons were seriously injured of which two are still not out of danger and
are battling for life in Indore hospital. Unconfirmed reports of death of four
persons in Monday’s clashes have been belied as those critically injured were
earlier presumed to have succumbed to their injuries.
About 70-80 Muslims have been rounded up after the clashes while only 2-3
Hindus have been arrested, alleged Abdul Qadeer, whose tyre re-molding shop
was among about half a dozen of houses and shops of Muslims which were reduced
to ashes by arsonists following the death of 40-year-old Arjun.
Talking to this correspondent Abdul Qadeer on phone from Khategaon seemed to
be in a state of fear and very much depressed. Speaking in a very hushed tone
he said he has suffered a loss of about Rs. 2.5 lakh with the burning down of
his shop by youths of his neighbourhood. The culprits whom he knows very much
by names are Rakesh, Ravi and Biju have not been arrested by police so far who
loiter in front of their houses but retreat their steps inside soon as they
get wind of police coming down, he lamented.
One Akram suffered a loss of about Rs. 35,000-40,000/- whose chicken shop was
gutted in the fire, he informed.
Abdul Qadeer confirmed the abduction and elopement of a number of Muslim girls
by Hindu boys since last few months which was brewing tension between two
communities. The police remaining a silent spectator was not doing enough to
book the culprits and Muslims were seething in anger, he added. A month back
17-year-old daughter of a labourer Hamza Khan was abducted by a Hindu youth of
the vicinity which triggered the Holi day bloody clashes, Abdul Qadeer
revealed. The district administration is keeping a tight vigil over the
situation in the township with heavy deployment of police force.(pervezbari@eth.net)
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