RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police on Friday ordered an inquiry after a video purportedly showing residents of a village in Surguja district taking a pledge to boycott Muslim vendors and end commercial transactions with Muslims went viral on social media.
The police said they were looking for the people who went to the village and gathered the residents to take the pledge.
Surguja collector Sanjeev Jha said an additional police superintendent and sub-divisional magistrate visited the village on Thursday and spoke to the residents.
He added that the video surfaced days after a communal clash in the area this week and added police booking accused from both sides. “It started as a normal New Year celebration brawl at a local level. A few people are giving communal colour to the incident. This will not be allowed,” he said.
Assistant police superintendent Vivek Shukla said that on January 1, villagers of Ara in Balrampur district visited Kundi Kala village to celebrate New Year when the clash took place.
“The villagers of Ara, who were from a particular community, got into a brawl with residents of Kundi Kala village. After the brawl, the villagers of Ara went back to their village and returned again and got into a fight. Police rushed to the spot and registered a case and booked the villagers under relevant sections. The next day, six people from Ara were arrested and sent to jail but later got bail the same day. This enraged the Kundi Kala villagers,” said Shukla.
{{/usCountry}}“The villagers of Ara, who were from a particular community, got into a brawl with residents of Kundi Kala village. After the brawl, the villagers of Ara went back to their village and returned again and got into a fight. Police rushed to the spot and registered a case and booked the villagers under relevant sections. The next day, six people from Ara were arrested and sent to jail but later got bail the same day. This enraged the Kundi Kala villagers,” said Shukla.
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Police said a group of outsiders instigated the villagers later. “Taking advantage of the situation of tensions between two communities, the outsiders raised slogans against a particular community. As soon as we got a complaint, senior officers and I rushed to the village and explained that some people are trying to give the issue a communal colour and villagers should not get misled,” said Shukla.
He added that they were yet to identify the accused who organised the pledge and raised slogan against Muslims.” We have got a complaint and soon they will be arrested. The innocent villagers have realised that they have done a mistake but they could not identify the accused.”
The police said they were scanning footage and soon the accused will be arrested.