Maharashtra: Curfew in Amravati as fresh violence erupts; Raut says ploy to destabilise state govt
Amravati/Mumbai(PTI): A curfew was imposed in Maharashtra's Amravati city on Saturday after a mob hurled stones on shops during a bandh allegedly organised by BJP in protest against rallies taken out by members of a minority community the day before against the purported communal violence in Tripura, police said.
Police resorted to lathi charge to control the situation, an Amravati Police official said.
On Saturday morning, hundreds of people, many of them holding saffron flags in their hands and raising slogans, came out on streets in Rajkamal Chowk area of this east Maharashtra city, located around 670 km from the state capital.
Some members of the mob hurled stones at the shops and damaged them in the Rajkamal Chowk and some other places, the official said, adding that the police lathicharged the protesters to bring the situation under control.
Against the backdrop of back to back incidents of stone-pelting on Friday and Saturday, officiating police commissioner Sandip Patil issued orders imposing a curfew in the city limits of Amravati under sections 144(1), (2), (3) of the CrPc to avoid any untoward incidents.
Except for medical emergencies, people are not allowed to come out of their houses. Similarly, a gathering of more than five people is not allowed, as per the order.
The curfew will remain in force till further notice.
On Friday, various cities in Maharashtra had witnessed stone-pelting during rallies taken out by some Muslim organisations protesting against the purported communal violence in Tripura.
These incidents were reported from Amravati, Nanded, Malegaon, Washim and Yavatmal districts.
Police have so far arrested 20 people and detained four others by registering 20 FIRs under various charges, including rioting, in connection with Friday's incidents.
In Amravati, over 8,000 people had gathered outside the district collector's office on Friday to submit a memorandum demanding that atrocities against the minority community be stopped.
When people were leaving after submitting the memorandum, stone-pelting took place at three places between Chitra Chowk and Cotton Market under the limits of the Kotwali police station.
Meanwhile, launching a veiled attack on opposition BJP, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the violence in Amravati and other places is aimed at destabilising the MVA government.
Speaking to reporters in Aurangabad, Raut said the state government is firm in the saddle and that the real faces of the perpetrators of violence will be exposed soon.
"The violence that is taking place in Maharashtra is aimed at destabilising the MVA government. Raising the bogey of violence, they (Opposition) will meet the state governor and write letters to the Union home ministry claiming that the (law and order) situation in Maharashtra is deteriorating. This will happen in future too. But the state government is firm in the saddle," Raut said.
He said the "real faces" behind this violence will be exposed in the inquiry of the state Home ministry. The Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress are the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
A day after the bandh was observed by Muslim organisations, Amravati district guardian minister Yashomati Thakur said some anti-social elements are trying to vitiate the atmosphere by throwing stones on shops.
"The state government will take necessary action. However, some people are using this for political gains," she said and appealed to people to not believe in rumours.
AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel has also condemned the violence in Amravati.
"I want to question those leaders in the state who came to power by taking the votes of Muslims and why they didn't condemn the violence in Tripura. If this violence in Maharashtra is a 'tit for tat' by any political party then this is the example of irresponsibility," he said.
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said it was wrong to organise rallies in the state for an incident that "never occurred" in Tripura and appealed to people to exercise restraint.
The Tripura government and local police have clarified that no religious place of a minority community was burned down. They have issued pictures of the same as well. I appeal to both the communities to observe restrain, the former chief minister told reporters in Mumbai.
The senior BJP leader also said that political parties in the state government should not give inflammatory statements.
"It is absolutely wrong to hold rallies here in Maharashtra for an incident that has not even taken place in Tripura state. It is wrong to attack shops of a particular community, he said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
