While several Muslim residents of Purola, who were forced to leave the town in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district last month following communal tensions, have returned, a few others have put up their houses for sale and vowed not to come back.
Trouble began on May 26 after an alleged attempt to abduct a 15-year-old Hindu girl by two youth, Ubaid and Jitendra Saini, who were caught by locals and booked by the police under the POCSO Act.
Though the accused were arrested the same day, the incident angered several right-wing groups, which staged protests and allegedly stuck posters asking members of the minority community to leave the town. The groups also called for a mahapanchayat on June 15, which was withdrawn at the last minute amid efforts by the administration to maintain peace.
