Ram Navami Violence: 7 Firs Registered In 3 Jharkhand Districts

Seven FIRs have been registered after communal violence broke out in three districts of Jharkhand during Ram Navami processions last week. On April 1 in Sahibganj district, a minor clash in which some vehicles and shops were damaged was reported in the Kiharipada area. Police sources said both sides also engaged in sloganeering and stone pelting. The police have registered an FIR against 25-30 people in this incident. Sahibganj SP Anuranjan Kispotta said: “In the stone pelting incident, an FIR has been registered and the case is being investigated. In the idol damage case, we are in the process of identifying the accused. We have got the CCTV footage and we will register an FIR.” In another incident, stones were pelted from outside the Indrapuri Mosque in Hazaribagh town in the wee hours of April 1. The magistrate has registered an FIR against 15 named persons and 200 unknown people in the case. Hazaribag SP Manoj Ratan Chothe said, “Two FIRs have been registered in two separate incidents. The first is for the ruckus created outside a mosque, and the second one is for the manhandling of a police officer by some people. We are also in the process of identifying people who disobeyed our orders and played DJ music in the Ram Navami procession. We will register FIRs against them in a few days.” Communal violence was also reported from Haldipokhar in Potka block, 30 kilometer from East Singhbhum district headquarters Jamshedpur, on March 31. Slogans were raised during a Ram Navami procession and members of two communities pelted stones at each other. Four FIRs have been registered following the incident. DSP Chandrashekhar Azad said: “Two FIRs have been registered at the instance of the police and one each by both communities… a few people sustained injuries.”