Owaisi's ‘khajur’ swipe at Nitish after police says Bihar violence well-planned

Communal clashes were reported in Bihar's Nalanda district during the Ram Navami celebrations.

Published on: Apr 10, 2023, 15:21:24 IST

By HT News Desk

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All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday stepped up his attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar after police said the communal violence during Ram Navami was well planned, asking why the state government “was sleeping”.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

“Last time I talked about the incident, I had given a statement saying it was certainly pre-planned. When it was pre-planned why were you sleeping?” Owaisi said, calling it a complete failure of the state government.

He also asked how the incident was repeated on April 1.

“You gave permission for the procession, and in front of the police a madrassa was burnt and the police were mere spectators to it,” Owaisi alleged.

“After the violence, there is no talk of compensation nor suspension of policemen, instead, you are holding iftar parties and having fun eating khajur (dates),” the AIMIM MP added.

On Sunday, Bihar Police said that it has unravelled the conspiracy that was hatched to orchestrate communal violence during Ram Navami, and arrested five people in connection to the case. The five arrested accused have been identified as Manish Kumar, Tushar Kumar Tanti, Dharmendra Mehta, Bhupendra Singh Rana, and Niranjan Pandey, the police added.

"Prima facie the violence during the Ram Navami procession of Bihar Sharif was well-planned. A WhatsApp group of 457 people was active before Ram Navami. In this, a conspiracy was being hatched through messages regarding Ram Navami. A separate FIR has been registered for this, which is being investigated by the Economic Offenses Research Team," Jitendra Singh Gawar, ADG, Headquarters, said.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered case no. 07/2023 against 15 persons under sections 153, 153 (A)(1)(a), 153 (A)(1)(b), 153 (A)(1)(c), 501 (1) (b), 501 (1) (c), 297, and 120 (B) of IPC and sections 66 and 66 (F) of IT Act, the police said.

"Based on all the evidence collected, proper investigation in the matter will be ensured," the police added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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