MP: 3 days after VHP convoy ‘targeted’ throughout demolition drive, Lateri nonetheless tense, curfew on
Three days after a curfew was positioned in Lateri tehsil of Vidisha district, stress prevailed within the area on Wednesday however the scenario was underneath management, police stated.
The curfew was positioned on Sunday amid a standoff between native residents and VHP members — who had visited the tehsil that day — over an ongoing anti-encroachment demolition drive.
The police have registered a case underneath sections 147, 148, 149, 427 & 336 of the IPC and about 15 native residents have been rounded up for questioning.
The drive was kicked-off after a 48-year-old resident of Murwas village, Santram Valmiki, alleged that households have been encroaching upon forest division land. According to district collector Pankaj Jain, the households residing on the land have been issued notices on March 9 and the demolition course of began on March 16. However, Valmiki was run down by a tractor on March 18.
Faqeer Ahmed, a resident of the identical village, and his 4 sons have been arrested.
According to native residents and group chief Anees-ur-Rahman, hours after Valmiki’s dying, BJP MLA from Sironj constituency, Umakant Sharma, visited the village and his employees allegedly made objectionable remarks about these being evicted.
Sharma stated the allegations that those that handed the feedback have been his males was a conspiracy of Congress leaders. “I went there as I was getting constant calls from families as there were Hindus there who were in distress after the murder of Santram Valmiki… Had the district administration taken appropriate actions and imposed a curfew, I would not have gone.”
According to native residents, on Sunday, two groups of the VHP visited the location of the demolition drive and commenced instructing the officers to not “spare anyone”. But Murwas police station city inspector, Anirudh Pandey, stated the households which have been affected by the demolition drive have been sitting on the road with their belongings when VHP members visited the location and instructed officers to make sure all encroachments are eliminated. It irked the households they usually reportedly hurled stones on the VHP males and in addition blocked the highway in protest. The residents alleged that the VHP males fired within the air.
VHP’s state spokesperson Jitendra Chouhan stated, “The members had gone to offer condolences to the Valmiki family when their vehicles were pelted with stones. Although no one suffered grievous injuries, they were targeted.”