The village of Khanjahanpur falling under Muzaffarnagar’s Khatauli region in Uttar Pradesh has bore witness to communal violence as reported by Amar Ujala.
The report quotes the police as claiming that two village residents namely Arshad and Nazim got into a business-related dispute on Saturday evening. The dispute soon escalated into a fight. Seeing this, another villager named Vikas – a friend of Nazim came to his rescue. The matter as per the report settled for a while.
Later though it is alleged that, while Vikas and his brother Praveen were relaxing at their home, Arshad and his dozen so associates came barging in to mount an assault. The mob, some of whose members have been identified as Bilal, Munna, Usman and Javed have also been accused of harassing women present in the home.
As a result of the assault, tension spread in the village that night, following which the accused fled the area.
A Jagran report which also covered the incident too claims that Vikas was abused and assaulted by members of a “particular community” while he was sitting at his home. Later Pravin and Nazim who got involved were also assaulted by the mob. About Rs 35,000 were also allegedly looted from Nazim.
In the fight which ensued, three people were reported injured. Damage was also reported to a litchi farm in the village.
The report quotes Vikas as claiming that he had a complaint against the poor quality of cement which led to the attack. Incidentally, Arshad, on the other hand, is claiming that Nazim and his associates attacked his home during their dispute. He further alleged that his household members were assaulted and later a fake case was filed against them.
Following the incident, a police complaint was lodged, which resulted in the police conducting a flag march and inspector Ambika Prasad Bharadwaj deploying a force. The inspector has been quoted as saying that one group filed a complaint on Saturday night and another did so on Sunday morning. The police also strongly warned people against quarrelling or spreading rumours.
