Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Police authorities have found that reports of stone pelting in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar area on devotees returning after immersion of Ganesh idols were fabricated.
On Monday night, Mayur Vihar police received a call with allegations that the complainant and his companions were attacked. The police reached the spot and investigated the matter.
“Last night, the police received a PCR call reporting an attack on the caller and his friends. Police investigated and found that boys from 31 Block, returning from Ganpati Visarjan (immersion), had a clash with boys from 32 Block due to an existing feud. CCTV footage confirmed that this was not a stone-pelting incident but a tussle based on previous fights,” DCP East Apoorva Gupta told the media.
According to Gupta, the animosity between these two groups was old and they had fought previously also. But the matter was resolved. On Monday, they clashed after an argument. Members of the rival groups thrashed each other escalating the tension. After fighting, members of both groups fled the spot within 4-5 minutes.
“We have checked CCTV footage and found that there was no incident of stone pelting. There was no serious fight. Now the situation is normal. And there is no communal angle,” said she.
The police have arrested all those involved in the fight. They have no injury marks.
The allegation of stone pelting, which has turned out to be false, has come to the fore at a time when such allegations are being levelled frequently against Muslims in different parts of the country. Following the allegations, Hindutva groups have been mobilised to launch attacks on Muslims to demand the demolition of their houses without any proper investigations and following the due judicial process. And dozens of Muslims have been arrested in the brutal police crackdown.
A few days ago, authorities demolished several shops belonging to Muslims in Rajasthan’s Jahazpur following an allegation of stone pelting on a religious procession. Many people were also arrested. A clash also broke out between the members of the two communities.
Commenting on the false allegation of stone pelting in Delhi, a social media activist, Zaman, said: “It’s become a trend in India to turn anything into a communal issue just to get the entire Hindutva brigade behind you. When will police start arresting those who spread such lies?”
