Police officials during an inspection of the site after two groups clashed during a Ganesha Chaturthi procession at Nagamangala in Mandya district, | Photo Credit: PTI
The situation in Nagamangala town in Mandya district which witnessed violence on Wednesday night during a Ganesha immersion procession, was tense but under control on Thursday.
There was no fresh untoward incidents, and 52 persons have been taken into custody.
Ban orders
Prohibitory orders are in place in the town till September 14 and about 600 police personnel, including those from the Karnataka State Reserve Police, have been deployed.
Though educational institutions remained closed as a precautionary measure on Thursday, Mandya Deputy Commissioner Kumar said that schools and colleges would remain open and function normally on Friday.
Violence broke out when the Ganesha procession stopped near a place of worship and youths raised slogans for a few minutes.
This led to members from the minority community assembling at the spot and raising slogans as well.
The police intervened and tried to goad the procession to move on but both the groups were by then engaged in sloganeering.
Sensing that the situation could go out of control, the police resorted to lathi-charge. In the melee, there was stone-pelting and the mob went berserk torching shops and vehicles.
Shops gutted
According to Mandya district administration, 20 shops and eight vehicles were torched by the mob.
Dr. Kumar said that the violence was confined to a part of the town and didn’t spread. Senior police officials, including Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baladandi, are monitoring the situation.
Meanwhile, Mandya district in charge Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy said he was constantly in touch with the local police to help defuse the situation.
He said he had already apprised Home Minister G. Parameshwara about the developments and stressed the need to maintain peace and amity. The Minister said he would convene a peace meeting to bring the situation to normalcy.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, who is also MP for Mandya, took to X (formerly Twitter) and accused the local police of failing to ensure protection to the people; he alleged that the situation was a fallout of the ‘’appeasement policy’’ of the Congress. Mr. Kumaraswamy is slated to visit Mandya on Friday.
Published - September 12, 2024 10:29 pm IST
