Murum village in Ranchi, Jharkhand, simmered after a small argument between youths of different communities over a bike triggered communal clashes on the first day of the new year.
According to reports, The argument, which lasted over an hour, turned communal, with the two factions coming face to face and pelting stones at each other. Suddenly the entire village was engulfed in this violence. The police personnel, who reached the spot after receiving information, were also attacked and their vans were set ablaze.
A youth belonging to Murum village, who was returning from a picnic, got into an argument following a small bike accident with another youth from Hocher village. The argument soon took an ugly turn and both the youths, belonging to separate communities, sought the support of their respective community people to attack each other.
According to reports, the situation became extremely vulnerable as the miscreants went on a complete rampage. They pelted stones at a police officer named Vinay Kumar Singh along with others, who reached the spot to take control of the situation, and also set his Balero car on fire. Along with his personal car, six houses belonging to innocent local residents, several shops and motorcycles were also set ablaze. Many police personnel and villagers were attacked and injured in this communal clash.
According to a report by Jagran, the communal violence spread after announcements were made from some ‘religious site’. The police officer Vinay Kumar Singh, who was attacked was reportedly standing near this ‘religious site’ when stones were pelted at him and his car was set ablaze. Following this, religious sites of other communities were also attacked. Several people were injured following the incident.
A similar incidence of communal violence augmented due to periodic announcements from the mosque was reported earlier. On November 29 2018, a small town named Jawalpur, located near Haridwar, Uttarakhand was reportedly engulfed in communal tension when a nearby mosque announced on the speaker and asked people from the girl’s side to gather together. An inter-caste marriage, between a Hindu boy and Muslim girl, had then instigated the violence.
Meanwhile, following the recent clash in Mumur village, the rage spread to neighbouring villages such as Ekumba, Kolia, Kanadu, Satkanadu, Kumamaria, Nayora Ekemba, Charadi etc, which were all divided into two factions, ready to kill each other.
Additional security forces have been called to take control of the situation following the incident. SSP Anish Gupta, who arrived at the spot late evening, told that the situation is currently under control. The police are still gathering information about the miscreants, the whereabouts of people who were injured in the scuffle and of those whom the shops and houses, which were burnt, belonged.
