Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) town general secretary M. Ashwin Kumar’s social media post questioning the propriety of building ‘madrassa’ in a Hindu dominated area here led to communal unrest between two groups with both resorting to violence.
As tension prevailed, after Thursday night incident, when a six-member gang tried in vain to attack the BJP functionary, police have posted picketing at more than 17 places, including places of worship of the two communities and brought the situation under control.
Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena said the situation was well under control. “No untoward incident was reported since last night,” he said adding special teams have been formed to arrest the offenders from both the sides.
Sivaganga Superintendent of Police T Jayachandran arrived with a battalion of 65 police to assist the district police. About 150 police personnel were deployed in all sensitive points. Two Additional Superintendents of Police and four Deputy Superintendents of police were in the field, supervising security, Mr Omprakash Meena said.
Police said after Mr. Kumar wrote a series of posts condemning officials and police for giving permission for constructing madarassa, a person from other group posted a comment, holding out threat to the life of the BJP functionary.
Acting on a complaint by Mr. Kumar, police had arrested the person who issued threat and remanded him in judicial custody. As a fall out of the incident, a group of six unidentified people, armed with deadly weapons, visited Mr. Kumar’s watch repair and mobile phone shop on Thursday night and indulged in violence.
As the gang members attempted to attack Mr. Kumar, his father came to his rescue. Though Mr. Kumar escaped unhurt, his father sustained cut injury in his hand and was admitted to the Government headquarters hospital here.
Protesting against the attack, a group of BJP cadres staged road roko in front of the government hospital on Thursday night, while a group of people pelted stones at the madarassa at Thangappa Nagar and damaged the furniture, police said. On a complaint lodged by one Saabira Banu, police have registered FIR against seven, including Mr. Kumar.
