20 injured in Thane riots; 41 held

This was the second such incident in the past six months. This time,it all started with a minor collision between a car and an auto rickshaw. Commissioner of Police Anil Dhere said the incident occurred around 10.45 pm on Tuesday at Kranti Nagar. This led to a dispute over the payment of loss for the damaged vehicle. “The rickshaw driver,who belonged to the Muslim community,summoned a mob from Kranti Nagar,and in retaliation to which another set of mob assembled at Lakshmi Patil Chowk. They then resorted to stone-pelting,” said Dhere.

Incidentally,both the rickshaw driver and car owner were not part of the flare-up that ensued between the two communities.

Among those injured,three were hurt when the police fired to quell the mob. “I was returning home from a night walk with my family when a bullet scrapped my head. Fortunately,there was not much injury,” said Syed Jaffar Ali,a local person who was discharged from civic hospital on Wednesday night.

Gulshan Bakery,one of the two shops at Rabodi that bore the brunt of arson during the riots in September last year,was once again targeted on Tuesday. “I had downed the shutters and was having dinner when our shop was attacked. When I went out to check,there was a mob attacking the shop. I escaped from the place and when I came back in the morning there was nothing left,” said Nawab Ali. The miscreants had used petrol from Ali’s two-wheeler,parked outside the bakery,to torch the place. “One burnt suspension is all that I could find of my vehicle,” said Ali. On the last occasion when the shop was gutted,he didn’t lodge a FIR considering that the miscreants were from the same neighbourhood. This time,Ali does not feel so.

Meanwhile,local corporator Najib Mulla said the timely intervention by Home Minister Jayant Patil helped keep the matters under control. “I requested Home Minister to immediately send the deputy commissioner of police to quell the tension,” said Mulla.

DCP Vikram Deshmane immediately arrived at the spot to bring the situation under control in the communally-sensitive area.

In about 40 minutes,the police managed to disperse the mob and got the streets evacuated. The police arrested 41 people for rioting and arson,including those who were rounded up during the curfew imposed during the night.

Director General of Police S S Virk,who visited Rabodi to assess the situation,said: “It is unfortunate that a small incident was blown out of proportion. Besides law and order,this is also a problem of communal tension. We do not need enemies from outside,if we have such incidents where people fight among themselves over trivial issues,” Virk said.

He said he will sit with the Thane police officers and chalk out a strategy to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.