JAIPUR: No fresh incident of violence was reported in the Hindaun town of Rajasthan’s Karauli district on Wednesday after two days of successive clashes, during which a mob torched the houses of two Dalit politicians. Curfew clamped in the town on Tuesday was relaxed for five hours following an improvement in the situation.
Additional forces were deployed to ensure peace in the area after three companies of Border Security Force arrived in Hindaun late on Tuesday night. Police said eight companies had been positioned in the district and the Internet services remained suspended throughout the day to check the spread of rumours.
Karauli Collector Abhimanyu Kumar said eight cases had been registered in connection with the violence and 82 persons arrested. The curfew was relaxed from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., but all government offices and schools in Hindaun remained closed.
A 5,000-strong mob, allegedly of upper caste people, had set ablaze the houses of BJP MLA Rajkumari Jatav and Congress leader and former Minister Bharosi Lal Jatav in an act of retaliatory violence on Tuesday, a day after the rampage and arson during the bandh organised by Dalit groups.
The mob had tried to enter a Dalit locality, but the police stopped the protesters and dispersed them by using tear gas, batons and firing in the air. While Ms. Rajkumari Jatav claimed that the attack on her house was “politically motivated”, police said those who had vandalised the Dalit politicians' houses had been identified.
Meanwhile, three persons were arrested at Nathdwara in Rajsamand district on charges of desecrating a bust of Mahatma Gandhi. The accused were identified on the basis of footage of a CCTV camera, after a resident of the locality lodged a complaint. The Nathdwara Municipality had installed the idol in 2008.
