Police help restore peace after fracas in dongri

The dispute in Dongri, that created communal tension in the area, was resolved by the police on Tuesday evening after both parties reached an understanding.

The dispute in Dongri, that created communal tension in the area, was resolved by the police on Tuesday evening after both parties reached an understanding.

HT Image

“The people in the locality wanted peace as they have to live in the same area. We called members of the Umar Khadi Sarvajanik Mandal and the hawkers of the area and resolved the matter,” said Suresh Sarkhe, assistant commissioner of police.

Sarkhe said the case registered against three members of the Umar Khadi Sarvajanik Mandal for extortion and several other sections of the Indian Penal Code would stand.

“We have to see each other every day. If we prolong the fight it would be our loss,” said Imran Shaikh, owner of the Infinity cyber café, whose manager was injured in the scuffle.

Communal tension had gripped Dongri on Sunday after members of the mandal approached hawkers and shopkeepers of the area and asked for ‘vargani’ (donation for the festival). When the hawkers refused to shell out the amount, members of the mandal beat up the hawkers. Some hawkers then removed knives to threaten the members when they assaulted shopkeepers further.

“The members of the mandal have agreed that they would not ask for vargani henceforth and hawkers have asked mandal members to take part in the coming Id festival,” said an officer from Dongri police station.

Following the fight, the city police have been ordered to deploy heavy bandobast in the area and all sensitive pockets across the city to avoid any kind of communal tension.

Two teams of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) including the riot control police along with the Dongri police were deployed in the area in the evening until the wee hours.