Bhopal: The controversy over stone-pelting at a Ganesh Chaturthi procession in Madhya Pradesh took a new turn Tuesday with the overnight transfer of Ratlam Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Kumar Lodha to Bhopal. Narsinghpur SP Amit Kumar took over from Lodha, who was made the SP of Government Railway Police (GRP) in the state capital.
The transfer came a few hours after a Hindutva organisation submitted an application to the District Collector (DC), criticising the Ratlam Police and accusing them of hurting religious sentiments.
On Wednesday, the Samast Hindu Samaj Ratlam protested at Kalika Mata Mandir in Ratlam continuing their demands for justice. Last week, it expressed displeasure at the police for allegedly calling the “true incident” of stone-pelting during the Ganesh Chaturthi procession on 7 September a “rumour”.
On the evening of 7 September, over 500 people protested outside the Ratlam Station Road police station, alleging that a Muslim person pelted stones at them while they were passing by Mochipura—a Muslim-dominated locality—during the Ganesh Chaturthi procession. A person from the Hindu community was injured in stone pelting, they said.
The next day, Lodha told a press conferenced that “rumour mongering” must not be believed.
“No idol was damaged in any manner. There are photographs and videos. The police had visited (the site of the alleged incident) and checked. We are trying to trace if there has been stone-pelting and if someone has been injured due to it. If this is established, necessary action will be taken,” the SP told reporters.
He also appealed to the media and the people to not pay attention to social media posts about the alleged incident, requesting them to not become involved in acts that could disturb peace and harmony.
On 8 September, the Ratlam Police filed an FIR based on a complaint by Shakhir Khan, who alleged that at around 11:15 pm the previous day, several people carrying rods and sticks and hurling abuses at him and his family goaded a mob to “drag us out of the house and beat us”.
The mob damaged vehicles belonging to him and others from the neighbourhood, Khan alleged.
After Khan’s complaint, the police booked 13 accused, identified as Kinnar, Ravi Verma, Mahendra Solanki, Jalaj Sankhla, Ravi Soni, Vijay Prajapati, Nitesh, Mukesh Banjara, Mathan Musle, Aman Jain, Jaideep Gurjar and Ajju Bardunde, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
ThePrint has accessed a copy of the FIR.
The charges include Sections 189 (1) and 189 (2) (unlawful assembly); 190 (common objective); 191 (1) (rioting); 191 (3) (attacking with a deadly weapon while rioting); 57 (affixing a placard in a public place to instigate a sect of more than 10 people to meet at a place and time in order to attack members of an adverse sect); 324 (5) (mischief leading to damages worth Rs 1 lakh and more); and 296 (obscene acts and songs in public place) of the BNS.
The police also mentions 200 unidentified people in the FIR.
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Hindu Samaj Ratlam’s demands & accusations
Soon after the FIR was lodged and the accused were booked, representatives of the Hindu Samaj Ratlam on 10 September wrote to Ratlam DC Rajesh Batham, alleging that the police did not take action against stone-pelters.
“When the procession was passing through Mochipura on 7 September evening, members of the Muslim community pelted stones at those conducting the procession. But when procession members reached the Station Road police station to file a complaint, their case was not registered,” the Hindu Samaj Ratlam wrote in the application.
They sought an independent inquiry and prompt action within 24 hours and warned to launch a protest if the demands were not met.
In the application, the Hindu Samaj Ratlam also accused the police of “not believing” their claims despite videos of the alleged incident being available. “No member of the Muslim community was booked in the case.”
An FIR against “unidentified” people was lodged only after a large crowd reached the police station, the Hindu Samaj representatives alleged.
The Hindu Samaj Ratlam further alleged that they took the Mochipura route on the advice of the police, only to be stopped at the intersection when they reached the Muslim-dominated locality. The police then resorted to lathi-charge, and the Muslim community members pelted stones at them, it alleged.
The representatives demanded action against police personnel, who allegedly beat members of the Hindu Samaj Ratlam.
They claimed that Raju Maida, 19, died in the lathi-charge and that the police forced the family to cremate the body without conducting postmortem. The organisation has demanded that police personnel be brought to justice and compensation to the injured.
After submitting the application to the DC, Kamlesh Gwalirayi of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Hindu Jagran Manch told the media that by dismissing the points raised by the Hindu Samaj Ratlam as “rumours”, and calling them “liars”, the SP “tarnished” the image of the community in front of the entire country.
A few hours later, the transfers took place Wednesday.
“There were other factors behind the transfer of Rahul Lodha. For instance, despite the crowd gathering at the police station at around 8 pm, Lodha himself reached the spot only after midnight. In the meantime, a crowd reached a Muslim locality, creating a riot-like situation there,” a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer told ThePrint.
Another allegation was that the police was trying to suppress the news of a person allegedly dying due to the incident, and that this matter was also taken into consideration before Lodha was transferred, the officer added.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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