Four days after the mayhem, Lal Band Keri wears a deserted look

According to the residents, the tiny locality is home to 25 houses and apart from one family, the remaining are Muslims.
The deserted Lal Band Keri on Thursday. (Photo | EPS)
The deserted Lal Band Keri on Thursday. (Photo | EPS)

SHIVAMOGGA: Locked doors, soot sticking to the ground after arson, and damaged window panes grab the attention of those entering Lal Band Keri — the locality whose residents fled after an angry mob ran amok after the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha. According to the residents, the tiny locality is home to 25 houses and apart from one family, the remaining are Muslims.

Lal Band Keri is located on the banks of the Tunga river in the heart of Shivamogga city. Sources say the families locked their houses and left for the safe of their relatives’ homes, soon after the violent incidents.

When TNIE visited Lal Band Keri on Thursday, the correspondent noticed that windowpanes of houses were damaged, and there were marks of attacks on the doors of a few houses. The entire locality wore a deserted look. Soot from burnt vehicles was also visible on the road.

“Though we have been residing here for more than 60 years, this is the first time such an incident has happened. We have been living in harmony,” says Baburao Jadhav, a transport businessman residing close to the locality. He said that miscreants set fire to vehicles and threw stones at houses.

Dinesh Chavan, another resident whose house is attached to the locality, also said the mob pelted his house with stones. The situation was tense on the night of February 20 and the next afternoon. Shaharaz Siddiqui, the spokesperson of the Joint Action Committee, said that families are taking shelter at relatives’ houses.

“Daily wage labourers and their families live in the locality. They work as masons, in textile shops, as tile labourers etc. The government should compensate them for the damage,” he said.

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