Curfew in Khargone lifted for an hour, situation calm

The curfew imposed in Khargone city, following the communal clash on Thursday night, was relaxed for an hour on Saturday evening

The curfew imposed in Khargone city, following the communal clash on Thursday night, was relaxed for an hour on Saturday evening to permit residents to stock up on commodities and water.

Residents collect water during the relaxation in curfew in Khargone. (HT photo)

On Thursday night, stone pelting took place on the people taking out a Vijay Juloos after Ravana Dahan, following which, there were communal clashes.

A puja pandal was set ablaze by the members of a community, and things worsened after houses too were set on fire, prompting people to flee their residences. The violence later spread to Sanjay Nagar, Tevedi, Goshala Marg, Talaab Chauk where more houses and vehicles were set ablaze. At around midnight, a shop at the post office square was set ablaze by miscreants.

No causalities were reported in the incident, however, more than 20 people were injured from both the communities. According to the police, additional superintend of police (ASP) and three other police personnel were also injured in the stone pelting.

Rapid Action Force and extra police forces have been deployed in the city after the incident, to prevent any untoward incident.

As per DIG (Khargone) DK Arya, the situation is under control and the administration and police have made all attempts to prevent any further clashes.

“More than 150 people were arrested and booked under various sections of IPC and arrests are going on,” the DIG told HT. An investigation would be conducted to probe into the reason behind the communal clashes, he added.