LUCKNOW: A brawl among children took a violent turn followed by communal tension in a village in Jaunpur district in eastern UP wherein over a dozen hutments owned by Dalits were set ablaze and massive damages were caused in 14 other houses of the members belonging to scheduled caste following a clash between two groups on late Wednesday night.
While four persons sustained grievous injuries, three goats and a buffalo were burnt alive during the clash. Jaunpur police lodged a named FIR against 58 persons of one community under various IPC sections and also SC/ST Act. Moreover, cases were also lodged against 100 unidentified persons in connection with the clash.
Taking cognizance of the incident, UP CM Yogi Adityanath ordered the district police authorities to invoke Gangster Act and impose National Security Act (NSA) against the main culprits – Noor Alam and Javed Siddiqui - who indulged in arson. The CM also issued a directive to take strict action against the SHO of the local police station as he failed to control the situation.
CM Yogi issued directives to the authorities concerned to accord a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to the families who lost their belongings and huts. He issued directives to district authorities to allot accommodation to the victims under the CM housing scheme.
As per the local sources, some children from a locality dominated by scheduled caste members in Bhadethi village had taken their buffalos to the grazing field near a pond where children of other community were also present with their goats.
The sources claimed that a buffalo while grazing, hit a goat and it led to a scuffle between the two groups of children. When they returned to their homes and narrated the incident to their parents, people of one community armed with sticks and rods thronged the Dalit locality. After an exchange of heated arguments, scuffle ensued in which Nabeel, Lareb, and Habib got injured.
At the same time, Aftab aka Hitler, husband of Bhadethi village head, intervened and pacified both the groups.
However, around 8 pm, over 100 persons of one community raided the Dalit Basti again and attacked the locals injuring Ravi, Atul, and Pawan. In the melee, the assailants started ransacking the houses of Dalits. Nandlal, Nebulal, Firtu, Rajaram, Jitendra, Sewlal and many others lost their belongings as their shanties were set afire by attackers.
On getting the information, Sarai Khawaja police station house officer reached the spot along with his contingent. Smelling the trouble to be grave and bigger, the SHO called in more cops from other police stations. In the mean time, Jaunpur DM DK Singh, SP Ashok Kumar rushed to the spot followed by other senior officials including Varanasi Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agarwal and IG range VS Meena.
After bringing the situation under control, a huge contingent of police force surrounded the the dalit basti and the injured persons were rushed to district hospital. Later, a 16-year–old Dalit boy was rushed to Varanasi in critical condition.
As per IG Varanasi range VS Meena, 35 persons were arrested in connection with the incident. Hunt for the rest was on. In view of tension gripping the village heavy police force was deployed while a team of officials also camped in the village to assess the loss.