Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the violence in Nagpur appears to be premeditated in which the mob targeted specific houses, and stated that “Chhaava” film reignited people’s emotions against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Speaking in the legislative assembly, Fadnavis said the Vicky Kaushal-starrer “Chhaava”, based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, brought before the people the true history of the Maratha king, he said.
Chhatrapati Sambhaji, son of Maratha empire founder Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was tortured and killed by Aurangzeb.
“After that (the movie), people’s emotions have been reignited. The anger against Aurangzeb is being exhibited in a big way,” the CM said.
Curfew has been imposed in several areas of Nagpur city after a protest against Aurangzeb’s tomb on Monday triggered violence, during which several houses and vehicles were vandalised.
Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, said 33 police personnel, including three deputy commissioners of police, were injured in the violence, and one of the senior officials was attacked with an axe.
Those who have attacked the police will not be spared, he said. “The mob targeted specific houses and establishments. It (the attack) appears to be premeditated,” Fadnavis said.
“There appears to be a pre-planned pattern of some people. Action will certainly be taken against them, and whoever has attacked police personnel will not be spared. Normalcy is being restored,” Fadnavis said.
‘Conspiracy to target a specific community’
Echoing similar sentiments, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said there was a conspiracy to target a specific community.
Giving the sequence of events, Fadnavis said that at 11.30 am on Monday, activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal staged a protest in the Mahal area of Nagpur, demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s grave.
They also made a symbolic grave with hay and set it on fire, he said.
A case was registered against the activists at the Ganesh Peth police station in the afternoon, and the section related to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings was invoked against them, the CM added.
By evening, a rumour was spread that the symbolic grave set on fire had some religious content on it. Following this, 200-300 people started raising slogans and threatened to resort to violence, following which the police used mild force, he said.
Fadnavis said protesters were also asked to come to the Ganesh Peth police station as they wanted to lodge a complaint against the VHP and Bajrang Dal workers.
“While the police action was underway, 200-300 people in Hansapuri resorted to stone-pelting. Their faces were covered. Some people were attacked with sharp weapons,” he said.
According to the CM, the third incident occurred at 7.30 pm in Bhaldarpura, where a crowd of 80 to 100 people attacked the police. So, tear gas and mild force were used to deal with them.
A crane and two JCBs were set on fire, he said.
“At least 33 police personnel, including three DCPs, were injured, and one of the DCPs was attacked with an axe,” he said, adding that five civilians were injured in the attack, and one of them is in the ICU.
Fadnavis said three cases have been registered at the Ganesh Peth police station, and two cases were being filed at Tehsil police station.
Curfew has been imposed in areas falling under 11 police stations, he said.
“A trolley full of stones was recovered. We found that some people had collected stones. There was arson, and vehicles were set on fire. Some houses and establishments were targeted in a pre-meditated way,” the CM said.
The Director General of Police (DGP) had a video conference with the Nagpur Police Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, and directed them to maintain law and order, Fadnavis said.
‘Police played a role of mediator’
Deputy CM Shinde said that after the protest, the police played a role of mediator between two communities.
“How does a mob of 2,000 to 5,000 people gather at 8 pm in the evening? Huge stones were hurled inside people’s residences. A hospital was ransacked. Photos of deities were burnt in the hospital. Where did petrol bombs come from? Petrol bombs were hurled, cars, motorbikes were torched. 100-150 bikes are parked in a specific area and there were no bikes yesterday. This means, this was a pre-planned conspiracy to target a specific community,” Shinde said.
The state will not tolerate the insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrapati Sambhaji, Shinde said.
He also demanded Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal to apologise for likening CM Fadnavis to Aurangzeb.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Pravin Datke, who represents the violence-hit Nagpur Central constituency, said Hindus and Muslims have been living peacefully in the Chitnis Park area for several decades.
Speaking to reporters at Chitnis Park, he said the violence was pre-planned and Hindus were targeted.
“It was a well-planned act with homes and shops of a particular community (Hindu) were targeted and not those belonging to Muslims,” he alleged.
Datke said the violence was not sudden because then both the communities would have been targeted. Expressing confidence in the chief minister, he said the government would scan the DVR and CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators and take action against them.
