Ghazala Ahmad | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Police have set up an 11-member team to probe violent incidents during Ram Navami processions in Bihar Sharif in Nalanda District of Bihar last week.
Talking to Clarion India over the phone, Ashok Mishra, Nalanda District’s Superintendent of Police, said the special investigation team will probe all aspects of the violence.
Refuting allegations of some Muslim families that minors have been arbitrarily taken into custody, he said: “We are not picking anyone randomly. Arrests are being made on the basis of oral or physical evidence including the CCTV footage.”
The official also assured that after a thorough investigation all those found not guilty would be released immediately. He put the number of those arrested so far at 130.
Mishra said for the last three days police are taking out ‘sadbhavna yatras’ to promote communal harmony and amity in the city.
He also informed that six major FIRs have been registered by police on the complaint of the magistrate and nine other complaints were made by the general public from both sides.
At least four districts in Bihar witnessed communal tension on the occasion of Ram Navami this year.
In Bihar Sharif, not only more than a dozen shops and godowns were set ablaze, but the 113-year-old Madrassa Azizia, with a library of 4,500 rare books, was also burnt. Stones were also pelted at a mosque adjacent to it, according to reports.
The Indian Express quoted Mohammed Shaqir Qasmi, the principal of Madrassa Azizia, saying that “not a single book is in a recoverable state. We do not even have scanned copies of the books lost in the fire. It is a huge loss, not just for Nalanda, but also the field of Islamic studies.”
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Photo: Madrassa Azizia in Bihar Sharif after the violence. — Nagendra Kumar Singh/The Hindu.
