By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Bhopal: An ego fight over sectarian supremacy on a locality resulted in gruesome ugly clashes in Bhopal’s Karnod area which resulted in 40 injured people apart from 30 houses gutted in fire and over 40 damaged vehicles.
Whole locality is cordoned off by police and a prohibitory order has been put in place.
The clashes broke out between Shias and Sunnis at Amaan Colony over a trivial dispute on Imambada land on Thursday night, local sources told TwoCircles.net. “Tension had been simmering in the area since past few months after the dominant Sunni sect in the locality was objecting over influx of Shia’s from Irani dera to the colony,” the sources added.
Scene After Shia Sunni Clash in Bhopal (HT Photo)
Around 70 Shia families with 200 members moved to Amaan colony over past one year by buying lands and constructing new houses. Many of these families, which were at the receiving end of the violence, started shifting – after the clashes – to take refuge at their relatives’ places at Irani dera.
Late Thursday night, in a well planned attack, the whole locality was barricaded and the mob brandishing fire arms, petrol bombs and sharp-edged weapons attacked the other sect’s properties. “Mobs went inside houses damaging the property and assaulted the residents … no one was spared including women and children,” the sources said.
Even as some police officers were deployed in advance fearing violence, local police force failed to control the violent mob. Situation was brought under control only after Rapid Action Force was called in. RAF fired tear gas shells, opened fire in the air and resorted to lathi-charge to control the violent mob. Till the time RAF could control the situation, damage and mayhem was already finished.
Over 12 fire tenders and ambulances were called in to manage the situation. The mob even tried to damage the fire tender injuring four of the officers on duty.
A strong 450 member police force is deployed with Bhopal range deputy inspector general of police, D Sreenivasa Varma, as in-charge. Whole locality is cordoned off by police and a prohibitory order has been put in place.