Lack of adequate police deployment at sensitive places, rumour of firing and some provocation saw unfolding of violence in Mira Road

The incident subsequently escalated with locals assaulting members of the procession. A woman who is said to have been part of the procession was also injured. “In the heat of things one vehicle which was part of the procession, in a bid to escape, turned into a lane which had a mosque on it. The lane is a dead-end and locals felt that the people in the car had come with some ulterior motive which again led to violence,” Ali said. The police has confirmed the same sequence of events behind the first incident.

The police have registered a case based on the complaint of a car driver, Vinod Babulal Jaiswal, in which people have been booked for attempt to murder.

“Jaiswal, a Bhayander resident, told us he had come to tour the area. While we have registered a case against those who assaulted him, we are also probing why Jaiswal entered Naya Nagar carrying saffron flags and shouted slogans,” a police officer said.

Things subsequently went out of hand after the video of the initial assault was circulated throughout Mira Road. Violence soon engulfed various parts of the suburb with rampaging mobs targeting one community and shops.

At least 12 FIRs were filed and nearly 23 arrests were made by the Naya Nagar, Kashi Mira, Navghar Bhayander and Pelhar police stations. More people may be arrested soon. The police identified 52 objectionable and inflammatory posts on social media and managed to take down 20 of them and are in the process of taking down others. Two FIRs pertain to posting and spreading objectionable content on social media.

‘Anticipated  situation but were helpless’

Locals, meanwhile, claimed the local police initially were unprepared to handle the situation that erupted in Naya Nagar. The Naya Nagar police chowki, which is a stone’s throw away from the spot where violence first erupted, did not have adequate manpower.

A senior police officer said in view of the Pran Pratishta ceremony in Ayodhya the police had anticipated areas with a high population of Muslims may require heavy security deployment.

“We anticipated it but missed deploying heavy security in the area. Rallies were being carried out one day prior to the incident. Intensifying patrolling in the area may have prevented the first incident and its further snowballing. And of course, the police were helpless too. Politicians were even asking the police why rally members were being lathicharged. We told them whatever we are doing is to prevent further violence,” a senior police officer said.

Four incidents, one FIR

The Kashi Mira Road police station on Tuesday night filed an FIR against 15 people and arrested four persons. The police filed one FIR and mentioned four separate incidents of violence in it. On the complaint of Kashimira resident Nadeem Sortiya, a manager at Kareem’s hotel, the police arrested Ganesh Gupta, Sumit Savita, Saurav Koli, Bhavesh Kaya and 11 others. Nadeem said, “On Tuesday evening 10-15 people were traveling on two-wheelers. They stopped in front of our hotel, pelted stones at the hotel causing damages and injuring our delivery boy Wasim Kalmaniya.”

‘Not religious incident, but political’

Dr Azimuddin Sayyed from Hum Bhartiya Mira Bhayander organisation said, “It was not a communal incident, but a political incident. The shouting of slogans in the area was being done for the past few days. People have to understand that some people want violence to happen. They are doing it intentionally as part of their political strategy to create rift in the two communities.”

After the incident, police placed barricades on entry and exits of key roads at many places, mainly with high Muslim population, in Mira Road. Meanwhile, Mira Road MLA Geeta Jain courted controversy stating the Hindu community needed only five minutes to show its power.