NAGAMANGALA: Tension prevails in Nagamangala after a communal clash during a procession taken out in the town to immerse Ganesha idols on Wednesday night.
Police have arrested 56 people in connection with the clash. Prohibitory orders have been clamped across the town and parts of Mysuru-Nagamangala highway. Educational institutions, shops and other commercial establishments in the town remained closed on Thursday.
According to sources, more people are likely to be arrested as police are examining the CCTV footage obtained from the affected areas. An argument broke out between youths from a particular community and those in the procession near a mosque on Mysuru-Nagamangala road. Soon, they exchanged blows and went on a rampage attacking shops and other business establishments.
They indulged in stone-throwing and even hurled petrol bombs. Some miscreants tried to disrupt power supply in the area. Twenty shops were set ablaze. The clash soon spread to the outskirts of Nagamangala and the highway where miscreants attacked vehicles with iron rods, logs and stones.
Additional police personnel, who were rushed to spot, brought the situation under control.Meanwhile, a large number of people, including women and children, gathered in front of the police station on Thursday morning and pleaded for the release of their family members who have been arrested.
Some shopkeepers said that around 15 people took advantage of the situation and set fire to shops near the police station. Rizwan, a shopkeeper, said though he had donated money to the organisers of Ganesha idol immersion procession in the town, the violent mob burnt his shop.
“I opened the shop after borrowing Rs 20 lakh from a finance company. I have many Hindu friends. My shop was burnt when I went to see my ailing mother who is under treatment in a local hospital,” he said.
Shivaraj and Bheemesh of Santhebeedi said the trouble started all of a sudden and miscreants set ablaze their shops. The police should take stern action against the miscreants, they added.Former MLA Suresh Gowda sought a high-level inquiry into the violence. He said that it was a planned attack as petrol bombs, knives and other weapons were used to attack those in the procession.