Utnoor town, headquarters of the tribal belt in Adilabad and neighbouring districts, was tense on Sunday following pitched battles between the police and a group that indulged in stone-throwing.
What started as a communal issue on Saturday turned into a police-versus-mob fight by Sunday afternoon, resulting in injuries to Adilabad Superintendent of Police M. Sreenivas and DSP A. Laxminarayana.
It all started with an audio clip — which allegedly offended a community — circulated in Utnoor on Saturday. A case was registered against the youth responsible for circulating the audio clip the same day but the police did not arrest him. At night, a large group staged a protest outside the police station, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. While retreating, it damaged some property of businessmen and vendors of another community. On Sunday morning, the latter retaliated by damaging property. The police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. The youths who had complained of sacrilege, however, remained on the roads near the old bus stand, indulging in arson.
They hurled stones at policemen who tried to control the situation.
The stone-throwing continued intermittently till afternoon. Karimnagar Range Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ravi Verma, Adilabad Collector Buddha Prakash M. Jyoti and Joint Collector K. Krishna Reddy visited the troubled spot.
The DIG and other officials met the elders of the two communities to restore peace. Though they were able to convince the elders, some youths who were hiding in the alleys continued stone-pelting. Mr. Verma told the media that five cases had been booked against the accused persons.
