TENSION PREVAILED in Mau township as a group of Sunni Muslims threatened to enforce a bandh on Monday in the town in case the Shia priest of a mazar was not arrested.
The fresh tension followed June 29 attack at the devotees of a mazar managed by Shias under kotwali police station when two devotees suffered minor injuries.
Though the crude bomb had left a black spot on the wall of a mosque close to the mazar, the two sides are blaming each other for the incident.
The incident occurred late on Thursday when some unidentified youths threw a crude bomb at the devotees at Malik Tahir Baba’s mazar, leaving two persons injured.
SP Mau, MD Karandhar, said that the priest of the shrine had admonished some youths found wandering in the compound in suspicious circumstances on the previous Thursday. He believed that the same youths might have thrown the crude bomb.
However, Sunnis blamed the priest of the mazar for the attack and wanted him to be arrested. They gave a call for Mau bandh on Monday in case no action was taken against the priest.
{{/usCountry}}However, Sunnis blamed the priest of the mazar for the attack and wanted him to be arrested. They gave a call for Mau bandh on Monday in case no action was taken against the priest.
{{/usCountry}}District magistrate Mau P Guruprasad told HT on Sunday that in view of the bandh threat, members of the Sunni community were called for a meeting with the senior officials at 2.30 pm today. “However, they did not turn up and postponed the meeting to 7.30 pm,” the DM said. He was hopeful the matter would be sorted out by then.
It is to be noted that an FIR had already been registered in kotwali poilce station in this connection and investigations were on.
The town had witnessed communal clashes during Dussehra festival last year in which 11 people were killed and scores of others injured besides trail of
devastation.