Indore police wary of communal incidents, Bhojshala row

Foiling any attempt to polarise communities and disturb peace will be the topmost priority of the Indore zone police in the New Year. Police officials are also wary of the Bhojshala controversy, which they feel can be revived by the Hindu right-wing groups on Basant Panchami.

Foiling any attempt to polarise communities and disturb peace will be the topmost priority of the Indore zone police in the New Year. Police officials are also wary of the Bhojshala controversy, which they feel can be revived by the Hindu right-wing groups on Basant Panchami.

Bhojshala is an Archaeological Survey of India-protected monument where Muslims offer Namaz every Friday and Hindus perform puja every Tuesday. During Basant Panchami, Hindus are allowed to perform puja at the monument from sunrise to sunset. The Hindu festival falls on February 12, a Friday, in 2016.

“The present SP’s transfer was stopped in view of the Bhojshala issue. Let us see what happens this year, but Hindu outfits will try to raise it as Ayodhya issue,” said a senior police officer posted in Indore region.

Preventing recurrence of riots like those broke out in pockets of Malwa and Nimar region will be another challenge before the police. “Some outfits have adopted a new strategy to trigger small-scale riots in certain pockets to polarise the people of Malwa and Nimar,” said a SP posted in the region.

Illegal storage of explosives in Malwa and Nimar region will also have to be checked. “Some of big businessmen and middlemen are involved in this business, and the biggest challenge will be to contain the illegal storage of explosives. After the Petlawad blast, the government had started a drive to check this, but now everything has stopped. We should make sure that Petlawad-like incident is not repeated, and for that both district administration and police should make attempts,” said the SP.

Indore city has witnessed a rise in stabbing and robbery incidents in recent months. Police have planned to install cameras in almost every corner of the city to contain such incidents in future.

NEWS MAKERS AND NEWS EVENTS

Rajendra Kaswa: He was the main accused in Petlawad blast in Jhabua in September which left more than 89 people dead. On December 7, senior police officials declared him dead on the basis of DNA report. Police said the DNA sample of one of the bodies found at the blast site matched with that of his family members.

Namrata Damor: The medical student, whose name appeared in Vyapam scam last year, was found dead on railway tracks in 2012. This year the CBI registered a case of murder and started probe. Ujjain police suspected that she had committed suicide by jumping off a train, while her family has maintained she was murdered.

Kavita Raina: Raina’s murder was the most sensational killing of 2015 in Indore city. It was a thorn in the flesh of Indore police for more than three months, and at last police solved the case by arresting one Mahesh Bairagi, who had targeted her to lure her into a physical relationship and then blackmail her.

Arjun Singh Parihar: Who killed this retired inspector is still a question for Indore police. Seventy eight-year-old retired officer was allegedly strangulated by unidentified persons at his residence on May 28, 2015. Police have rounded more than 1,000 suspects and quizzed them but nothing concrete has come out till now.

Khargone riots: The riots occurred in the last week of October. Police said the clashes started when some people allegedly pelted stones on the ‘victory procession’ near a popular cinema hall in the heart of the city. This turned into full-fledged clashes as the other group retaliated. The violence spread to several other localities where houses and vehicles were set ablaze. Police personnel were also injured in stone pelting. Curfew was clamped in the city for next one week.

Honour killing: A case of honour killing was reported in the city on Rakshabandhan. A youth was allegedly strangled to death by his father-in-law and seven others in Indore’s Malviya Nagar. The main accused, Parasnath Atroliya, and seven others allegedly dragged the couple out of the house and strangled the youth in public view.