On Friday (16th February), violence erupted in the Nagri area in Ranchi of Jharkhand as stones were pelted during a Hindu procession when it reached near a religious place. The situation quickly escalated as the two communities engaged in clashes using stones and sticks to attack each other. Meanwhile, the police have denied unverified claims that shots were also fired, and imposed section 144 of the CrPC. More than half a dozen people from both sides were injured in the violence.
A Hindu procession was taken out on Friday evening for Goddess Saraswati idol immersion in the Nagri area. At around 8 PM, the procession reached near a religious place on its route. People standing there asked the Hindus to immediately move on from there. This led to a heated argument. Stone pelting and clashes started following this argument.
Stones littered the road, sparking chaos throughout the area. Upon receiving word of the incident, police officials arrived at the scene, and tried to mediate between the two groups. However, they were initially unsuccessful. Thirty minutes later, reinforcements arrived, enabling the police authorities to regain control of the situation and disperse the crowd.
Following the incident, the Ranchi district administration has enforced prohibitory orders in the Nagri zone area until further notice. Acting on directives from the Sadar Sub-Divisional Officer of Ranchi, Section 144 was imposed in the zone area from 10 pm on Friday and it will remain imposed until further notice.
Upon receiving news of the incident, Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha, SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha, Rural SP Manish Toppo, and City SP Rajkumar Mehta, along with the police force, promptly arrived at the scene.
Ranchi police said, “Section 144 has been imposed as a precautionary measure in the Nagri area after a clash broke out between two groups during the procession of Saraswati idol immersion. As of now, the situation is completely peaceful.”
A similar incident also took place in Chongakhar village of Udaipura panchayat of Madhupur in Jharkhand where stones were pelted on an idol immersion procession after a clash erupted between two groups on Friday evening. Two dozen people were injured in this incident. As soon as the information was received, the police force of several police stations reached the spot and the situation was calmed down. The police administration provided security and conducted immersion rituals.
According to police, the devotees were going to Gondlitand Pond to immerse the idol taken on a cart from Chongakhar. During this time, some people standing near a religious place opposed to playing music. There was a dispute about this. Security forces are deployed in the village.