?Raid? rumours trigger violence

TENSION GRIPPED the Kilol Park area late tonight as a huge mob of the Muslim community gathered near the park following rumours that police raided a mosque nearby. The mob damaged the shops of one Majid Hussain ? whom they suspected to be behind the reported raid -- ransacked and torched his house situated beside the mosque.

TENSION GRIPPED the Kilol Park area late tonight as a huge mob of the Muslim community gathered near the park following rumours that police raided a mosque nearby. The mob damaged the shops of one Majid Hussain – whom they suspected to be behind the reported raid -- ransacked and torched his house situated beside the mosque. 

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Two vehicles were burnt and the windows of the BMC vehicles parked there were broken. The office of Hussain’s newspaper, situated in the same building, was also ransacked.

All this happened in the presence of police and despite repeated pleas made through public address system from the mosque. At a time when senior officials of the district administration were having discussions with the people in mosque, the mob got out of control and damaged the properties of Majid Hussain.

When the things went out of control, police burst teargas shells and resorted to lathi-charge. What provoked the the outburst was that Hussain, living near Kilol Park mosque, complained to the police that a Tablighi Jama’at staying in the mosque included some ‘terrorists’.

People of the area were not happy with Hussain. They were demanding shifting his properties.  Senior police and district administration officials reached the spot with a large police and teams of Rapid Action Force. They held discussions with leaders of the Muslim community and tried to pacify the crowd. Traffic on the road connecting new Bhopal to old Bhopal remained disrupted for an hour.

Minister of State for Mining Laxmikant Sharma, who was going towards VIP Road, was also not allowed to cross the road. Bhopal Range Inspector General Sanjeev Kumar Singh, District Collector S K Mishra and SP A K Singh reached the spot. They held discussions with the religious leaders and also tried to pacify the crowd.  There was tension in the area till late in the night.