Khargone Violence: Case Against Unidentified Persons After Video Surfaces of Call to Boycott one Community

Khargone: Police here in Madhya Pradesh have registered a case against unidentified persons after a video of a purported call to boycott members of a particular community surfaced, officials said on Tuesday.

In the clip, which went viral on social media, an announcement on a truck-mounted sound system was heard about the call to boycott the community members, accusing them of spreading violence here in Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Khargone district administration has started the work of installing 121 CCTV cameras at different locations, including those where stone-pelting was reported during the Ram Navami celebration on April 10, the officials said.

Local administration relaxed the curfew in the violence-hit town for nine hours - from 8 am to 5 pm - for the fourth day in a row on Tuesday and allowed plying of passenger buses during that period.

Communal clashes had erupted in Khargone on April 10, during which shops and houses were damaged, vehicles torched and stones hurled. Subsequently, curfew was clamped in the city which is being relaxed since April 14.

Khargone's in-charge Superintendent of Police Rohit Kashwani said after they came to about the video of the call to boycott a particular community, a case was registered on Monday night against unidentified persons on charge of spreading enmity between different groups.

Karahi police station in-charge Parmanand Goyal said the case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).

The police came to know about the video on Monday night. It was being investigated and people involved in the case were being identified, he said.

He said as per preliminary information, the announcement purportedly heard in the video was made on April 19 in Katargaon, located nearly 60 km from the district headquarters.

 The announcer was heard requesting Hindus to boycott the "adharmi" (impious) and "pakhandi" (hypocrite) shopkeepers and give them a befitting reply while accusing them of stone-pelting during a Ram Navami procession and burning the houses of Hindus in Khargone.

Another video also surfaced in which a group of women was purportedly seen taking a resolve to financially boycott "vidharmis" (heretic) by not purchasing from their shops and not selling stuff to them.

When asked about this, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Milind Dhoke told PTI that the administration was looking into the video clip.

 “The video is not clear. After an investigation into the case, further legal steps will be taken,” Dhoke said.

Meanwhile, Khargone Municipal Council's chief Priyanka Patel in a statement said the police administration has given a list of locations where CCTVs need to be installed. Based on the list, work has been started to install 121 CCTV cameras at 36 locations, at a cost of Rs 64 lakh.

The areas where incidents of stone-pelting took place are also among these 36 locations, she said.

Kashwani said they have also recovered a pistol used by Mohsin aka Waseem, who was arrested last week in connection with the firing at SP Siddharth Chaudhary during the violence on Ram Navami.

The accused told the police that he had purchased the pistol from one Toofan Singh, who will also be questioned, the official said.

 Choudhary is currently on leave as he is undergoing treatment after sustaining a bullet injury in his leg.