The Karnataka government has deployed additional police forces in Maddur town, which witnessed violent communal clashes during a Ganesha immersion procession on Sunday.
Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the area, even as Home Minister G. Parameshwara stated that the situation is under control.
According to police, stones were pelted at the procession around 500 kilometres from a mosque in Ram Rahim Nagar, leading to retaliation from the members of the procession.
Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the clashing groups. Later, Hindu activists staged a protest in the area, chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and waving saffron flags.
Mandya Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baladandi stated that 21 people have been taken into custody, and further arrests are expected to follow.
Parameshwara, too, confirmed that all the accused in connection with the violence have been arrested.
“Regarding the situation in Maddur, all the accused have been arrested. There's no problem now. The immersion of Ganesha happened afterwards,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.
The minister urged people from both communities to maintain peace and asserted that the police had taken adequate steps.
“Lakhs of Ganapati idols were immersed across the state. Nowhere such commotion took place. When we were thinking that everything passed off peacefully, Maddur incident occurred. We will take action as per law,” he said.
Politics rages in
The opposition BJP attacked the state government over the law and order situation and alleged that the violence in Maddur was the result of “appeasement politics”.
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra claimed that Hindu festivals and processions were no longer safe in the state.
“During the Ganesh immersion processions, fanatical miscreants are forming gangs and pelting stones. Such incidents have been reported from many parts of the state, including Mandya, Dharwad, Bagalkote, and Hubballi. Yesterday in Maddur, miscreants created a tense atmosphere by continuously hurling stones. In this stone-pelting, women and police personnel were seriously injured, which is extremely alarming, and BJP strongly condemns this,” Vijayendra said.