At least 24 people including eight police officials were injured in a communal clash between the Hindus and the Muslims following alleged eve-teasing in a Ranchi village late on Monday night (June 5).
Communal violence erupts in UP village after Muslim man elopes with married Hindu woman
The incident took place in the Sukurhutu area, located 12 km from Ranchi district headquarters.
What had happened?
It all started after a group of women who were returning from the village pond were allegedly eve-teased by a group of men. Though it is not known to which community they belonged to, the men who were reportedly drunk or high on marijuana, passed lewd comments at the women.
According to local media, a villager saw this and tried to stop them from doing so. Instead the youth thrashed the villager, who went and informed other men in the village. Soon members of both the communities armed with sticks and swords clashed with each other. They even pelted stones at each other and damaged many houses.
When the police arrived to stop the clash, the rioters attacked the police team from the Kanke police station. Later, 300 more police personnel and woman personnel were also deployed to bring the situation under control. When they cordoned off the village, the villagers pelted stones at them and also damaged their vehicles.
Kanke police station in-charge, inspector Rajiv Ranjan, suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital. The police had to resort to lathi charge to control the crowd.
Ranchi senior superintendent of police Kuldeep Dwivedi has said that 93 people from both the communities have been arrested, and Section 144 is imposed in the village.
The security has been tightened in the village which is reeking of communal tension. Many security personnel have been deployed in the area.
But, this is not the first time that Ranchi has witnessed such communal violence. On May 2, clashes erupted between two communities in the Bargai area.
