Incident of arson has been reported from the town of Malpura in Rajasthan which has been on tenterhooks after clashes broke out after stone pelting at the Durga Puja procession. Aggrieved by the incident, the locals in the town sat on a dharna outside Malpura police station, refusing to burn the effigies of Ravan till their demand of arresting the miscreants was met. However, seeing no end to the impasse, the district administration burnt the Ravan effigies on Wednesday morning and imposed Section 144 in the region to avoid escalation.
On Friday, the local administration relaxed the curfew restrictions for two hours in the morning for people to stuff necessary provisions. The curfew had been in place since stone pelting on Durga Puja procession. At around 10:30 am, the blaring sirens intimated people of the reimposition of the curfew restrictions. However, in the afternoon, panic set in among the local authorities as two shops on the road leading to truck stand caught fire. This sparked tensions among the residents who surrounded police officers in their area and expressed anger over the incident of arson.
On being informed about the arson incident, Inspector General of Ajmer Police Sanjeev Nirjari, Superintendent of Police Adarsh Sidhu, Additional Superintendent of Police Gordhan Lal rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. The officials tried to assuage the seething anger among the people by assuring them that swift and punishable action would be taken against the culprits. The police also detained a few youths from the locality for questioning.
