Locals went on the rampage, burning a police vehicle and pelting stones, in the Loni area of Ghaziabad on Monday, a day after a 60-year-old man allegedly tried to rape a minor girl.
The police arrested the accused Sher Mohammad on Sunday evening. Gorakhnath Yadav, SHO of Sunita Vihar, said a case had been registered and the girl sent for medical examination.
Following the incident, the Assembly constituency was gripped by communal tension as the accused belonged to the minority community.
The situation became potentially volatile late on Sunday night due to rumour mongering about the death of the victim and an attack on a local mosque in the area.
The police said because of the rumours residents belonging to the minority community, who live in the vicinity, fled their homes last night.
Before the situation could go out of control, the administration swung into action and deployed police and para-military forces, given the proximity of Loni to Muzaffarnagar (about 100 km), which witnessed one of the worst communal riots last September..
Ravinder Rathore, a cousin of the victim, told The Hindu that the public was angry because of the “news” that the victim had died. When asked what was the reason for the crowd getting volatile, Rathore said: “We heard that the accused who ran away from the crime spot last evening, had gone and met the local MLA Zakir Ali who is also from the same community. People got angry because of the apprehension that the accused may get the MLA's protection”.
Inspector General of Police, Meerut Range, Alok Sharma, told the media on Monday that the situation which was “a flare-up engineered by rumours” was getting back to normal.
Vinod Nagar, the local ward councillor, confirmed the role played by rumour mongering. “I got several calls that a mosque is being attacked and there might be a counter attack, which was all rumour being spread by people with vested interests,” he said.
