Days after communal clash, Chhattisgarh capital witnesses bandh

Police also said two mudhouses of people from the minority community near Biranpur in Bemetara district, where the clashes had taken place last week, were set ablaze.

Arun Sao, state in-charge for Chhattisgarh BJP and a Member of Parliament, led a group of 200 supporters to visit Sahu’s family.

Some protesters could be heard chanting ‘Bhuneshwar ke hatyaaron ko goli maro saalon ko (shoot Bhuneshwar’s killers)’.

“Unlawful assembly is banned in Biranpur, so we did not allow them to enter the village. They were stopped in Pipargaon, a few kilometers from Biranpur, and taken to Saja police station in a police van, from where the crowd was dispersed,” said Bemetara district collector Padum Singh Alma.

While crowds were stopped from entering the village, some unruly members did manage to torch two houses, police said. In Raipur, protesters also tried stopping buses on the roads and broke windshield of one vehicle.