The Hindu : Front Page : Violence breaks out in Nizamabad district

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Thursday, Oct 05, 2006
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Violence breaks out in Nizamabad district

Staff Reporter

Four policemen among 29 injured; tense situation prevails

BRINGING ORDER: Policemen dispersing the crowd following communal tension in Nizamabad town on Wednesday.

NIZAMABAD: At least 29 persons, including four policemen, were injured in communal riots that broke out in Bodhan, Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Kotagiri late on Tuesday night and continued on Wednesday.

The police clamped Section 144 across the district as a tense situation prevailed in the wake of widespread violence and firing to quell rioting. The situation is under control, Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Laddha said.

Trouble began in the communally sensitive town of Bodhan around 9 p.m. on Tuesday when people belonging to a particular community objected to a procession carrying the idol of goddess Durga on Achanpally road passing in front of their place of worship. Suddenly, stones and footwear rained on the procession resulting in a clash between the two groups. Following this violence, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Pariwar groups called for Nizamabad district bandh. However, riots broke out in the district headquarters town when Sangh Pariwar activists went round Ahamadipura Colony and Pedda Bazar to force shopkeepers to pull down their shutters in the morning.

Free-for-all

Violence immediately spread to other communally sensitive areas. It took four to five hours for the police to bring the situation under control. Additional forces were requisitioned from Mahabubnagar, Medak and Karimnagar districts. A sudden cloudburst at 3 p.m. also helped the police restore order. It was free-for-all in Bodhan and Nizamabad towns for five hours from 10.30 a.m. Both groups gathered in good numbers taking positions at Nehru Park, Gandhi Chowk, Ahmadipura Colony and Shivajinagar here.

The rioters set fire to two medical shops at Shivajinagar and one medical shop on Khilla Road. They also burnt more than a dozen makeshift shops on footpaths on Devi Road.

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