36 people arrested for violence over Tipu Sultan post, says Kolhapur SP
Kolhapur superintendent of police (SP) Mahendra Pandit said investigators were going through CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators and have made significant progress
KOLHAPUR/PUNE: The Kolhapur police have arrested 36 people and detained three juveniles in connection with the four criminal cases registered for Wednesday’s violence during a protest against the alleged use of Tipu Sultan and Aurangzeb’s image along with an objectionable audio message on social media, a senior district police officer said on Thursday.
Kolhapur superintendent of police (SP) Mahendra Pandit said investigators were going through CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators and have made significant progress in their investigation. “So far, 36 individuals have been arrested for vandalism, rioting, and three juveniles have been detained in connection with the violent incidents that unfolded in the city,” Pandit said.
The officer said that there was no evidence yet that the perpetrators involved in the violence came from outside Kolhapur and stressed that they were locals. “As per the preliminary investigation, we have not identified any outsider in the unrest. However, we are collecting CCTV footage,” he added.
Pandit said 400 people had been booked in the three first information reports (FIR) registered for the violence. A fourth FIR was registered on Tuesday over the WhatsApp status which carried an image of Tipu Sultan and Aurangzeb along with an offensive audio message that triggered the violence and five juveniles have been detained in this context.
Police said the tension erupted after members of various right-wing organisations- some of them had called for a Kolhapur bandh - gathered at Shivaji Chowk to protest the WhatsApp status. Later, a group of unidentified people began pelting stones and attacking houses of people belonging to a particular community, prompting security personnel to fire teargas to disperse the crowd.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state home minister, defended the aggression of the Hindutva outfits, saying there was “bound to be a reaction if Aurangzeb is glorified”.
“We will not tolerate it. This is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra,” he said on Wednesday.
Police said a group of unidentified men threw stones at some houses post midnight but prompt police action helped bring the situation under control.
