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Employees of a mall clear broken glass after the vandalism on Main Road in Ranchi on Friday. (Hardeep Singh)
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Traffic movement on Ranchi’s busy Main Road was disrupted for two hours on Friday afternoon after a group protesting against ethnic violence in Myanmar went on a rampage, on a day commuters were anyway harassed because of an auto strike.
The mob attacked business establishments and makeshift shops, led by some youths from Kanta Toli. The protesters then tried to make their way to Albert Ekka Chowk, where preparations were on for Janmashtami festivities. Friday was however, a holiday in the capital and traffic was thin.
Trouble started when around 500 people took out a rally at 3.15pm to protest against the ongoing ethnic violence in Rakhine province of Myanmar, which is home to a large number of Muslims.
The prominent business establishments that were targeted during the violence included the Reliance Trend outlet in JD Hi Street mall near Sainik Market and Firayalal at Albert Ekka Chowk. They remained closed for two hours after the attack.
When contacted, mall owner Anurag Sarawagi said “seven big glass windows valued at Rs 1.5 lakh” were damaged. He added that he was going to register an FIR at Hindpiri police station.
Besides damaging property, the trouble-makers looted some fruit and fast foods shops at Albert Ekka Chowk, before some local youths confronted them and the police also arrived at the spot.
The violence resulted in suspension of traffic movement between Eqkra Mosque Chowk and Albert Ekka Chowk. Police diverted all traffic towards Purulia Road from Sarjana Chowk.
Senior superintendent of police Saket Kumar Singh confirmed the incident and said those who had indulged in the violence had been identified and action would be taken against them.
Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce and Industries expressed concern over the incident. Its secretary R.D. Singh said businessmen have nothing to do with communal sentiments. He added that that he would discuss the matter with chief minister Arjun Munda and director general of police G.S. Rath.
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