"Burnt Our Homes, Vehicles, Clinic": Residents Share Experiences of Violent Incidents in Nagpur
Authorities reported that the area between Chitnis Park and Shukrawari Talao was significantly impacted by the unrest, where rioters set some cars on fire.
In Nagpur, multiple residences, automobiles, and a medical facility were damaged due to the violence triggered by rumors concerning the burning of a community's sacred text amid protests by a right-wing group seeking the demolition of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb.
Due to the unrest, prohibitory measures have been implemented in various parts of the city, according to police.
Currently, officials stated that peace has returned to the city.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the Guardian Minister of Nagpur, is scheduled to visit the affected Mahal area later today.
Around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, disturbances began in central Nagpur when stones were thrown at law enforcement amidst allegations that a community’s sacred scripture had been set ablaze during a protest advocating for the destruction of Aurangzeb's tomb, resulting in injuries to six individuals and three police officers, as reported by officials. A secondary conflict occurred in the Hansapuri region near Old Bhandara Road between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., where witnesses saw an unruly crowd ignite several vehicles and vandalize homes and a clinic.
According to officials, the road segment from Chitnis Park to Shukrawari Talao experienced the greatest level of violence, with some vehicles being torched by rioters. Residents' houses were also targeted by stone-throwers.
In a conversation with PTI, several inhabitants of the Old Hislop College vicinity near Chitnis Park in Mahal recounted that a group descended on their neighborhood around 7:30 p.m., hurling stones at their residences and damaging multiple cars parked on the streets.
Four cars were reported to have been harmed, with one being severely burned.
Members of the mob hurled stones at houses, ignited vehicles, smashed water coolers set up outside homes, and broke windows before fleeing, as stated by local residents.
Afterward, community members gathered water to extinguish the fires on the burning cars, according to one resident.
The residents have called for accountability against those involved in the unrest.
Sharad Gupta, a 50-year-old resident of the Hansapuri area, mentioned that a group attacked between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., throwing stones and setting fire to his four parked two-wheelers.
Another local, who operates a tea stall in front of a clinic, reported that the mob invaded the medical establishment, damaged furniture, and spoiled medications. The individual's tea stall also suffered damage.
Law enforcement has detained 15 individuals during search operations across various neighborhoods in the Mahal area.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister from Nagpur, Nitin Gadkari, have both called for calm and unity following the violence.
