Clashes break out between 2 groups during Ganesh idol procession in Karnataka town, 52 arrested
Nagamangala (Karnataka) (PTI): Clashes broke out between two groups during a Ganesh idol immersion procession here following which mobs went on a rampage targeting several shops and vehicles leading to a tense situation.
Police said 52 people have been arrested following Wednesday night's incidents and prohibitory orders preventing the assembly of more than four people have been imposed in this town in Mandya district till September 14 as a precautionary measure.
A few people, including two policemen, sustained minor injuries in stone-pelting. The situation has been brought under control and additional security forces have been deployed, they said.
According to police, an argument broke out between two groups, when the Ganesh idol procession by devotees from Badarikoppalu village reached a place of worship on Wednesday, and some miscreants hurled stones, which escalated the situation
Following the clashes between the two groups, a few shops were vandalised and goods torched and vehicles set on fire on Wednesday night, they added. Police used mild force to disperse the crowd to control the situation.
The group of youth that carried out the procession halted and staged a protest near the police station, demanding Immediate arrest of those responsible for the violence.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the violence is an act of miscreants which threatens the peace and tranquility of the society.
The government, he said, has taken the incident seriously and warned that ruthless action will be taken against those trying to create a divide on religious grounds, regardless of caste or religion.
"I request the public to cooperate with us by maintaining peace and exercising restraint without succumbing to incitement," he said on 'X'.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said the clashes cannot be termed as "communal violence" as he maintained that the incident happened on the "spur of the moment".
He told reporters in Bengaluru that 52 people have been arrested from "both sides", and after reviewing CCTV footage about their involvement in the incidents like stone-pelting and torching of vehicles and properties, cases will be registered against them.
When told that a petrol bomb was allegedly hurled and and asked whether the incident was pre-planned, he said: "no, no, it (the incident) has happened immediately on the spur of the moment. Police have not allowed it to escalate further and have brought things under control."
According to police, 53 people have been named in the FIR.
"The situation has now returned to normalcy in Nagamangala town. People are going about their day-to-day activities. Shops are open. We have deployed additional forces from Karnataka State Reserve Police along with other police officials including those in civil clothes," Mandya Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baldandi told PTI on Thursday.
A case has been registered for unlawful assembly, attempt to murder, obstructing public servants, destruction of public property and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Mandya District in-charge Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy said the situation is peaceful and under control now.
"Our Nagamangala is the abode of peace and harmony. We will not tolerate any attempt to create unrest here. I request the public not to listen to any rumors and cooperate in restoring peace," he said in a post on 'X'.
Following the incidents, the opposition BJP and JD(S) attacked the Congress government.
Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka (BJP) alleged that the "attack" on Ganesh idol procession is a direct fallout of 'appeasement politics'.
Ashoka alleged: "stones were hurled, swords brandished and crude bombs thrown at Ganesh Visarjan Procession. Are we living in Karnataka or Taliban?"
"Emboldened by the appeasement politics of @INCKarnataka Govt, a violent muslim mob brutally attacked the Ganesh Visarjan Procession Nagamangala last night," he alleged.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said the incident is proof of 'failure' of law and order in the state.
He also warned that "bad days are not far" for the Congress party if it does not stop 'appeasement politics.'
"It is the proof of 'failure of law and order' in the town that the miscreants of a community deliberately raised a ruckus by targeting the devotees who were walking peacefully in the procession of God Ganapati, throwing stones and slippers on public and policemen, exploding petrol bombs and brandishing swords," Kumaraswamy said.
He also alleged that the incident was a result of 'overindulgence and appeasement' of a particular community by the Congress party and state government for political gain.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
