By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Thane (Mumbai): A clash between two communities on the matter of the gate of Navaratri Mandap turned in to a full fledged communal riot on Tuesday night here in the Koli Vada locality of Thane. Mohsin Khan (20) was killed in the police firing while more than 59 people were reported to be injured.
Rioters burnt down 2 bakeries, 10, houses and shops and 26 vehicles. The curfew has been clamped in the area in order to normalize the situation.
It all started with skirmishes between the Muslim residents of Khatoon Apartment and the Navashakti Mahila Mandal. Like every year, Navashakti Mahila Mandal fixed the gate of the pandal of the Navaratri Mandap near the gate of the Khatoon Apartment but the Muslim residents of the apartment were not ready to go through the gate.
Last year also clash on this issue occurred after which it was decided to decrease the length of the pandal, but this year situation reportedly worsened when the pandal was fixed with the increased length. The Muslim residents of the apartment who were returning from their night prayer reportedly refused to pass through the saffron gate of the Navaratri Mandap.
The rioters reportedly burned and looted properties worth more than Rs 25 lakh. They burned down the bikes parked in the Khatoon Apartment and destroyed the community centre in the basement of the apartment.
They also burnt two bakeries, some vehicles and two houses which were located very near the Rabodi Police Station. The Muslim residents of the burnt houses and owners of the bakeries alleged that their property worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in the presence of the police.
The local Muslims blamed the local police for worsening the situations as instead of cooling down the tense situation it was busy acting in the behalf of the Hindu rioters and helping them.
The representative of Navashakti Mahila Mandal alleged the minority community to be behind the communal riot and claimed that some Muslim youths were attacking them with swords but no police came to their rescue.
Both sides blamed each other holding each other responsible and involved in the attacks.
The police have imposed curfew in the area since yesterday midnight. Besides the local police personnel, Rapid Action Force is also patrolling in the area.