A day after violence at Ragi Gudda and Shanti Nagar localities in Shivamogga during a religious procession, the city remained calm on Monday; business activities in the heart of the city suffered a hit as the district administration clamped prohibitory orders.
As many as 12 people, including policemen, suffered minor injuries during the stone pelting in the two localities on Sunday evening. A group of miscreants indulged in violence after the Id Milad procession was over. They allegedly targeted houses of people belonging to a particular community, threw stones, and damaged vehicles parked outside.
The district administration immediately clamped prohibitory orders in the localities and deployed police forces.
Shivamogga Superintendent of Police G.K. Mithun Kumar, late in the evening, announced that the situation was under control and peace had been restored. However, later, as a precautionary measure, the district administration extended prohibitory orders across Shivamogga City Corporation limits.
The police appealed to businessmen in Gandhi Bazaar and adjacent localities to keep their establishments closed for the day. However, there was no restriction on the movement of vehicles, and public transport functioned as usual.
Arrests
Mr. Mithun Kumar said 60 people had been arrested and 24 cases registered over the violence in the city on Sunday. He said window panes of seven houses had been damaged. A four-wheeler, a three-wheeler, and two two-wheelers were damaged.
Allegations by BJP
Expressing concern over the violence in Shivamogga, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accused the State government of failing to maintain law and order. He argued that precautions should have been in place during Id Milad, as the city was communally sensitive.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA S.N. Channabasappa, Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra, and former Minister K.S. Eshwarappa visited the McGann Hospital where the injured were being treated.
They alleged that the police failed to protect Hindu families. “When thousands of people had gathered for the procession of Hindu Mabasabha Ganapati on September 28, there was no violence. But the State government failed to ensure peace during the Id Milad procession,” Mr. Eshwarappa remarked.
The Shivamogga city unit of the BJP submitted a memorandum to Mr. Mithun Kumar, alleging that the organisers of the Id Milad procession took the route not cleared by the district administration, leading to violence.
They used cutouts and posters that could trigger hatred, they claimed. The party also pointed at vehicles from other districts plying into the city.
