Ranchi, Sept. 26: Capital Ranchi was shut down for most part of the day today after sporadic clashes over an alleged attempt to defile a temple last night spread to other parts of the city, prompting the district administration to clamp prohibitory orders after deploying a large posse of security men and chief minister Raghubar Das to hit the road to appeal for calm.
Armed with lathis and other weapons, protesters burnt tyres and squatted on roads from early morning today at several places, including Hinoo, the epicentre of last night's temple trouble, and the adjoining locality of Doranda.
Clashes, road blockades and demonstrations also spread to major thoroughfares of the city, including Shradhanand Chowk where Ranchi University is located, Shahid Chowk, Albert Ekka Chowk, Sarjana Chowk, Daily Market, Sujata Chowk, Birsa Chowk and Harmu, scaring away morning walkers and disrupting traffic.
Schools also decided to give over early and sent word to parents to pick up their children.
By 4pm today, the police said, the situation was under control with chief minister Das informing the media that he was monitoring the situation personally along with DGP D.K. Pandey.
As many as 30 people, including a journalist, were injured in police lathicharge, and in the violence.
Police detained three persons in connection with yesterday's incident. Today, 47 others were picked up for violating curfew orders.
"The situation is tense, but more or else under control. Section 144 has been imposed. We appeal to people to maintain peace and not get carried away by rumours," said Ranchi deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar, who did a recce of the strife-torn areas with SSP Prabhat Kumar, SP Jaya Roy and a huge number of policemen and State Industrial Security Force.
According to police sources, it all started at 11pm yesterday when a section of residents at Hinoo spotted chunks of animal flesh and skin near a temple.
As news spread, more people started spilling onto the road. By midnight, a mob of over 200 had blocked the main road in the locality. Some even set fire to a local chicken shop.
A police team, led by SSP Kumar, rushed to the spot and managed to disperse the crowd around 2.30am.
"Those who dropped the meat in front of the temple did so when there was a power cut for around three hours. When power supply was restored, people of the neighbourhood spotted the flesh and got angry," claimed Prabhakar Das, a resident of Hinoo.
But at the crack of drawn, rumours started spreading that several right-wing outfits had declared a bandh today in protest against the alleged defiling of the temple, prompting groups of youths from two communities to fan out to various places across the city.
The mobs burnt tyres and squatted on roads. They did not spare police vehicles too, smashing windscreens of Ranchi SP Jaya Roy's SUV at Daily Market, a police bus in Hinoo and a PCR van at Bahu Bazaar.
Police resorted to lathicharge at least 20 times at various places, but mobs kept coming back. Barricades had to be put up from Albert Ekka Chowk to Main Road, which led to traffic disruptions. At Hinoo, RAF personnel had to be deployed.
At Hinoo, Shakti Akhtar of Darji Mohalla apparently suffered a bullet injury. But, it was not clear who fired it since the police have denied using firearms to disperse crowds. Akthar was taken to RIMS for treatment, where his condition is stable.
"What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Do you want to destroy peace in Ranchi? You will take law in your hands just because some people were up to mischief. Don't forget the guilty will be punished," the chief minister told a group of angry youths at Albert Ekka Chowk around 12.30pm.
Accompanied by DGP D.K. Pandey and other senior officials, Das appealed to the men, "Drop your lathis. It is time for you to go to colleges."
The chief minister's motorcade then rolled onto Daily Market on Main Road, Hinoo, Doranda, Birsa Chowk and Harmu.
By 4pm the city was calm, although residents preferred to stay indoors. The roads were deserted and shops remained closed.
Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, who was away in Goa to attend a religious function, appealed to all sections of the society to restore peace and amity.
"The happenings in our beloved city of Ranchi are very sad. I appeal to people of Ranchi to maintain peace and harmony," Toppo said.
Peace meeting
The district administration held a meeting with community members at the Ranchi collectorate around 5.45pm, where it was decided that a peace march would be held from Albert Ekka Chowk to Hinoo tomorrow. Members of both the communities expressed concern over involvement of teenagers in the clashes while promising cooperation to police to maintain law and order.
The meeting was attended by the deputy commissioner, the SSP and SP, Ranchi SDM Amit Kumar, Ranchi additional municipal commissioner Om Prakash Shah and councillors, besides Uday Shankar Ojha and Jaisingh Yadav of Ranchi Mahavir Mandal.
SSC exam postponed
Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has postponed tomorrow's exams for recruitment of 105 excise sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors. The examination was supposed to be held at 81 centres in Ranchi, 19 in Hazaribagh and 18 in Dhanbad. The new date will be announced soon, said commission's chairman C.R. Sahay.
From the epicentre of trouble in Hinoo and its adjoining locality Doranda to Shradhanand Chowk where Ranchi University is located, Shahid Chowk, Albert Ekka Chowk, Sarjana Chowk, Daily Market, Sujata Chowk, Birsa Chowk and Harmu -important localities witnessed clashes between youths from warring factions, demonstrations and blockades, disrupting traffic, scaring away commuters and prompting closure of nearby schools (See Page 6) .
Armed with lathis and other weapons, protesters burnt tyres and squatted on roads at many of these places. Unrest was also reported from Kanke Road after a group assembled near the CMPDI to block road.
Police vehicles were not spared either. The frenzied youths smashed glasses of Ranchi SP Jaya Roy's vehicle at Daily Market, a police bus in Hinoo and a PCR van at Bahu Bazaar.
Police had to resort to lathicharge around 20 times at these places, but the protesters kept coming back. Barricades had to be put up from Albert Ekka Chowk to Main Road, which led to traffic disruptions.
At Hinoo, a youth from Darji Mohalla, Shakil Akthar, apparently got hit by a bullet, but it is not clear who fired it. Akthar was taken to RIMS for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.
many of these places. Unrest was also reported from Kanke Road after a group assembled near the CMPDI to block road.
Police vehicles were not spared either. The frenzied youths smashed glasses of Ranchi SP Jaya Roy's vehicle at Daily Market, a police bus in Hinoo and a PCR van at Bahu Bazaar.
Spotting of animal flesh near a religious place in the heart of Ranchi after Bakri Id celebrations last night triggered violence, sporadic clashes and protests across the state capital today in which at least one person sustained a bullet injury, prompting the chief minister to hit the road to appeal for calm while police clamped prohibitory orders in tense pockets of Ranchi.
Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, who is currently in Goa to attend a religious function, also appealed to all sections of the society to restore peace and amity.
Tempers started flaring up since 11pm on Friday when a section of residents spotted prohibited meat and skin near a temple in Hinoo under Doranda police station. As the news spread, more people started spilling onto the roads.
By midnight, a mob of over 200 had blocked the main road in the locality with some of them burning down a roadside chicken shop. A police team, which rushed to the spot led by SSP Prabhat Kumar, managed to disperse the crowd around 2.30am.
"Those who dropped the meat in front of the temple did so when there was no electricity in the area for around three hours since evening. When power supply was restored, neighbourhood people spotted the meat and skin and became angry. Protests continued well into the wee hours," said Prabhakar Das, a local resident of Hinoo.
But with the crack of drawn, rumours started spreading that several right-wing outfits had declared a bandh today in protest against the alleged defiling of the religious place, prompting groups of youths from two communities to gather at several places across the city.
From the epicentre of trouble in Hinoo and its adjoining locality Doranda to Shradhanand Chowk where Ranchi University is located, Shahid Chowk, Albert Ekka Chowk, Sarjana Chowk, Daily Market, Sujata Chowk, Birsa Chowk and Harmu -important localities witnessed clashes between youths from warring factions, demonstrations and blockades, disrupting traffic, scaring away commuters and prompting closure of nearby schools (See Page 6) .
Armed with lathis and other weapons, protesters burnt tyres and squatted on roads at many of these places. Unrest was also reported from Kanke Road after a group assembled near the CMPDI to block road.
Police vehicles were not spared either. The frenzied youths smashed glasses of Ranchi SP Jaya Roy's vehicle at Daily Market, a police bus in Hinoo and a PCR van at Bahu Bazaar.
Police had to resort to lathicharge around 20 times at these places, but the protesters kept coming back. Barricades had to be put up from Albert Ekka Chowk to Main Road, which led to traffic disruptions.
At Hinoo, a youth from Darji Mohalla, Shakil Akthar, apparently got hit by a bullet, but it is not clear who fired it. Akthar was taken to RIMS for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.
Around 30 people, including a mediaperson, were reportedly injured in the police lathicharge, group clashes and stone pelting.
As police - RAF personnel had to be deployed in Hinoo - struggled to control the crowds, chief minister Raghubar Das took it upon himself to visit the restive zones around 12.30pm.
Accompanied by DGP D.K. Pandey and other senior officials, Das stopped at Albert Ekka Chowk where he told an angry group: "What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Do you want to destroy peace in Ranchi? You will take law in your hands just because some people played a mischief. Don't forget the guilty will be punished."
"Drop your lathis. It is time for you to go to colleges, it is not the time for clashes," the chief minister added before his motorcade rolled onto places like Daily Market on Main Road, Hinoo, Doranda, Birsa Chowk and Harmu.
"I am personally monitoring the situation and have asked the DGP to handle it crowd," Das told mediapersons.
The district administration has imposed Section 144 to prohibit any procession and gathering at several pockets of the capital.
"The situation is tense, but more or else under control. Section 144 has been imposed. We appeal to people to maintain peace and not to get carried away by rumours," said Ranchi deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar, who did a recce of the strife-torn zones with SSP Kumar, SP Jaya Roy and a huge number of policemen and State Industrial Security Force.
"Around 100 people have been detained for violating prohibitory orders. As far as last night's episode is concerned, police have detained three youths for questioning," added SSP Kumar.
Although the situation turned normal by around 4pm, the roads remained deserted with shops and other establishments closed as most people chose to stay indoors.
Later, Cardinal Toppo sent a message for the residents of Ranchi, urging them to remain calm.
"The happenings in our beloved city of Ranchi are very sad. I appeal to the people at Ranchi to maintain peace and harmony. Nothing is ever solved by violence. Loss of lives and property is a loss to Jharkhand, to our country and to humanity. I pray to the Almighty to bring people to their senses and restore peace. Let us remember that the blessed are the peace-makers," Toppo said.
There are many prominent schools situated in Doranda, Hinoo and Main Road locality including Bishop Westcott Girls School, St. Xavier’s School, St Anthoni’s School, Firayalal Public School (near Sujata Chowk), St Mary School and Central School at Hinoo.
In the afternoon, police arrested Bhairav Singh; younger brother of criminal turned social worker Ram Singh who was leading a group of protesters.
However, they praised district administration ultimately controlled the situation and Chief Minister himself came out on the road.
Speakers expressed concern that in both the camps of troublemakers a number of minor boys were seen; a disturbing signal for society.
Ranchi SP Jaya Roy came out with a final figure of arrest and detention made by police during riot control exercise in the different parts of Ranchi.
"Accumulative figure of arrest and detention is 47 minus many minor boys who were rounded-up by police but released later on. FIR will be lodged at different police stations based on individual cases of violence reported from different parts," said Roy.
