Khargone: MP Govt Demolishes Houses of Those Involved in Pelting Stones; 77 Arrested, Curfew Imposed

Madhya Pradesh government on Monday started demolition of houses of those involved in pelting stones at the Ram Navami procession at Khargone. 77 people have been arrested so far and curfew has been clamped in the entire Khargone city.

Visuals showed the demolition being conducted in the presence of senior police officials and personnel in Khargone.

Khargone’s Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary had received bullet injury in the violence and besides him, at least 24 people, including six policemen, were also injured, they said.

Police had to fire tear gas shells to control the situation after the stone-pelting took place at Ram Navami procession on Sunday. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed the incident as unfortunate and said the damages caused to public and private properties will be recovered from rioters.

The rioters have been identified and will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against them. There is no place for rioters in Madhya Pradesh, he had said. “We have passed the Damage to Public and Private Property Recovery Act. We are constituting a claim tribunal under the Act and after assessing the loss, its recovery will also be done from rioters, Chouhan said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Congress has announced the setting up of a five-member fact-finding panel in connection with the violence at Khargone during Ram Navami a day earlier. The panel comprises former minister and MLA Sajjna Singh Verma as chairperson, and former ministers Mukesh Nayak and Bala Bachchan, ex-MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and the party’s minority cell chief Sheikh Aleem as members, It will submit its report to MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, a party leader informed.

A similar stone-pelting incident was also reported during a Ram Navami procession in Sendhwa town of Barwani district where a police station in-charge and five others were injured. The situation was later brought under control, according to officials.

When the Ram Navami procession started from the Talab Chowk area near the district headquarters, stones were pelted at the gathering, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to control the situation. The procession was supposed to take a round of Khargone city, but it was abandoned midway after the violence, Khargone Additional Collector Sumer Singh Mujalde earlier said.

According to the district collector, the situation is now under control and citizens have been asked to step out of home only for medical emergency. She also said that strict action will be taken against those sharing objectionable messages and videos of the Khargone incident on social media.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said 77 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in Khargone and that the MP government will not allow anyone to disturb peace in the state. Peace has been restored in Khargone.

Mishra confirmed that Khargone SP Siddharth Choudhary suffered bullet splinter injuries in his leg. Besides the SP, six other police personnel were also injured, he said.

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